Lausanne, Switzerland, May 7, 2016 – The FIVB World Tour Antalya Open starts on May 10 in Turkey and will be an important opportunity for men’s and women’s teams to improve their ranking ahead of the Olympic Games.
“It is extremely important for our national teams participating in this tournament as it will help them gain precious points to support their aim of going to Rio,” said Turkish Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball Director Oguz Degirmenci at a press conference on Saturday. “We are very proud and happy to host the world’s best beach volleyball players here in Antalya.” Eight Turkish teams will take part in the competition.
Turkey national team player Volkan Gogtepe said, “We are aiming to go to Rio and this tournament will be a great opportunity for us. We prepared six months for this.”
Gogtepe and his partner Murat Giginoglu are Turkey’s highest-placed men’s team but are currently outside the Olympic qualifiers in 23rd place with just over a month left to move up the rankings.
Turkey’s highest-ranked women’s pair are Merve Nezir and Esra Betul Cetin, but they currently only have 280 points while the lowest-ranked qualifers (Ana Gallay/ Georgina Klug from Argentina) have 3,930.
“It will be a great experience for me as this will be my first big tournament,” said Turkey national team player Aleyna Vence.
FIVB Technical Director Levan Akhvlediani commented: “Antalya is one of the best locations to play beach volleyball, so it’s important to host such events to grow beach volleyball in Turkey. It’s a great opportunity for Antalya and Turkey.”
The tournament will take place at Antalya Konyaaltı Beach Park and at the TVF Akdeniz University courts.