Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, May 13, 2016 — With a convoy of massive trucks lining up to deposit their loads of specially blended sand, the world-renown Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio is putting the final touches on site preparation to welcome the the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) for next week’s double-gender $150,000 FIVB Cincinnati Open, presented by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).
The transformation of one of professional tennis’ most respected venues, this is the first time for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour to visit the greater Cincinnati area and the event is the final Olympic qualifying tournament in the United States for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Olympic Qualifying through the FIVB World Tour ends on June 13.
Under the direct supervision of AVP competition manager Jeff Conover, the week-long process has seen the building of four Olympic-regulation competition courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center and four practice courts at the nearby Sports Express facility. With nearly 2,000 tons of FIVB-approved special-blend sand from a quarry in Northern Ohio, specifications call for a depth of 16 inches on each court.
With qualifying tournaments for both genders on Tuesday to determine the final eight spots in the 32-team main draw for each gender, the semifinals and nationally-televised gold medal matches (NBC TV) for each gender will be held next Saturday (May 21) on the Lindner Center Court. Modified is the third feature court at Lindner for the center court which will see competition under the lights on both Friday and Saturday evenings.
The FIVB is the international sanctioning body for pro beach volleyball and through its organization athletes qualify for the Olympic Games. The AVP organizes, sanctions and produces the largest domestic tour in the United States. This is the second straight year under the ownership of Donald Sun and the leadership of Al Lau for collaboration between the two pro beach volleyball organizations. Last year the FIVB St. Petersburg Grand Slam in Florida was promoted and organized by the AVP as well in association with the FIVB.
Conover said that while the exact determination is being finalized, several area colleges and sports facilities in the greater Cincinnati area will be given the sand when the tournament is finished.
Heading back to the United States for the fourth straight year after a decade absence, the FIVB World Tour will be the 15th men’s and 15th women’s FIVB World Tour event held in the United States and the first event in Cincinnati.
GROWING HISTORY
The FIVB Cincinnati Open in the United States will be the 343rd men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 304th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992.
FIVB 2016
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar featured a purse of US$8.8 million with a season that extended from last October to this October, competing at 23 venues in 13 countries. The schedule includes five FIVB Grand Slams, three Swatch FIVB Major Series events, 14 FIVB Opens and the special Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in the United States. The showcase event will be the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil (Aug. 6-18).
The 2015 portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar started in October in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and included two more open events prior to the remainder of the schedule resuming at the FIVB Kish Island Open in Iran in February.
ROAD TO RIO
The Olympic qualification process began in 2015 with all FIVB World Tour events (except the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals) in 2015 up until June 13, 2016 counting towards the Olympic Ranking in order to determine 15 spots for each gender that will take part in each 24-team field in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Copacabana Beach in Brazil in August. Counting the FIVB Xiamen Open, nine men’s and eight women’s events remain on the Olympic qualifying calendar for the FIVB World Tour.
FIVB EVENT FORMAT
Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments – whether FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam or FIVB Beach Volleyball Open – are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds. Country Quota playoffs returned as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.
MORE INFORMATION
Additional information on the event is available online both at FIVB.org and AVP.com. While general admission to the tournament is free, tickets are available online for the VIP prime seating areas at https://avp.ticketspice.com/cincinnati-ticketing.