Lausanne, Switzerland, November 30, 2016 - The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour returns to Russia from May 31-June 4 for the double-gender FIVB Moscow 3-Star Open. The Moscow event will mark the 20th time for a men’s competition in Russia and 18th women’s tournament held in this expansive country. The 2017 event will be the 12th FIVB World Tour event held in Moscow (ninth straight year).
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesBesides Moscow, the other Russian cities that have hosted a FIVB World Tour event are Anapa, Sochi and St. Petersburg.
Men’s championship team at the 2016 FIVB Moscow Grand Slam was the Netherlands’ Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst while winning the 2016 women’s gold medal in Moscow was USA’s April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings.
The five-star structure instituted starting with the 2017 FIVB World Tour is one of the many steps taken by the FIVB to modernize and streamline its competitions in a golden period for beach volleyball on the heels of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said, “The aim of the new structure is to provide a platform and formation of events that increase the number of competitions in a growing number of hosting countries and create a sustainable business model while providing additional commercial flexibility and opportunities.”
Through 2016, Russia has hosted a total of 36 FIVB World Tour events (19 men, 17 women) with Brazil leading the medal count in both genders. In the men’s totals after 19 events, Brazil has 16 medals, followed by the USA with eight, Germany with seven, Russia with six, Latvia, Netherlands and Switzerland with three each and China, Italy, Poland and Spain with two each. With one men’s medal in Russia are Argentina, Norway and Portugal.
After 17 FIVB World Tour women’s events held in Russia through the 2016 season, Brazil leads the medal parade with 16 total medals followed by the USA with 10, China with six, Germany with five and Russia with four. Switzerland has three medals, Italy, Netherlands and Spain have two each and Canada has one medal.
Moscow is the capital and largest city in Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center in Russia and in Eurasia. Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world. Moscow is the northernmost megacity in the world and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of over 11.5 million.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, a medieval city-fortress that is today the residence of the Russian president. The Moscow Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in Moscow.
The highlight of the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar will be the $1,000,000 2017 FIVB World Championships, a 48-team (per gender) event to be held July 28-August 6 in Vienna, Austria.
The 2017 FIVB World Ranking system will include FIVB Beach Volleyball Major Series, 5-star, 4-star, 3-star, 2-star and 1-star events along with additional pre-approved events at the inter-continental, continental and national levels.
Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds.
Country quota playoffs are also held, as needed, to determine the final teams for qualification tournaments.
The first men’s FIVB World Tour event was played February 17-22, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil while the first women’s FIVB World Tour event in Brazil was played in 1993 in Rio de Janeiro. The women’s FIVB World Tour held its first tournament in Spain in 1992.