World beach volleyball tour returns to Phuket
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour will return to Karon beach, Phuket, this year after an agreement to continue staging the annual event was signed by Pentangle Promotions and the Thailand Volleyball Association with the sport's world governing body the
The tournament, which is the largest annual beach sporting event in Southeast Asia, is part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Open series and will be held over six days from October 29 to November 3. Several changes to the competition format have been made this time round. The qualifying round is now restricted to 24 teams, while the double elimination system has been replaced by the format used at the 2012 Olympic Games – pool play followed by a sudden-death knockout round.
The 2013 tournament is expected to draw over 50 top women’s beach volleyball teams from around the world to Karon beach which, as one of the few natural beach venues on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, has been popular with the teams. Up to six Thai teams will be eligible for the event.
Past winners of the tournament include the current Olympic champions, Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Treanor and former world champions Jennifer Kissy and April Ross.
The Phuket leg will be broadcast to a worldwide audience of over 700 million households, including those in Thailand.
To develop local interest in the sport, beach volleyball clinics and an inter-schools tournament will be held alongside the main event.
