India to host FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in 2023 and 2024

 

India will host the Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 from December 6 and 10 this year, the global governing body of volleyball (FIVB) announced on Tuesday. The 2024 edition will also be held in India.

The host cities and format for both editions will be decided later.

It will be the first time that the Volleyball Club World Championship, running since 1989, will be held in India. As a host nation, India will be able to field the winners of the Prime Volleyball League, the top volleyball competition in the country, at the Volleyball Club World Championship.

“The best athletes from around the world will come down to India to showcase their talent and our Indian players will get a chance to compete against them. This is in line with our mission to help the Indian volleyball team qualify for the 2028 Olympics,” Tuhin Mishra, co-promoter of the Prime Volleyball League, said. 

Italian club Trentino, with five titles, is the most successful team in the competition.  Sada Cruzeiro from Brazil has won the club world championships four times.

Qatar’s Al Rayyan finished runners-up in 2014. It remains Asia’s best finish in the competition.The qualified teams and final schedule for the Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 will be announced later.

PRIME VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE: Ahmedabad Defenders win thriller against Bengaluru Torpedoes to clinch trophy

 

Ahmedabad Defenders clinched the trophy in the second season of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 with a 15-7, 15-10, 18-20, 13-15, 15-10 win over the Bengaluru Torpedoes at the Regional Sports Centre, Kochi on Sunday. Angamuthu was named the player of the match for his dominating show.

LM Manoj and Nandhagopal combined early on to put blocks on Bengaluru's attacks. As Ibin and Pankaj got involved in attacks, the Torpedoes showed they are here to fight. But with incessant attacks from Angamuthu, the Defenders maintained their composure. As skipper Muthusamy Appavu began setting up Danial and Manoj, Ahmedabad drew block errors from the Torpedoes and picked up a hefty lead.

With service pressure building, the Torpedoes struggled to run their attacking plays from the middle. Ahmedabad's in-form defence tackled well with Bengaluru's attack, while Angamuthu and Santhosh dismantled the Torpedoes' momentum.

Just when it looked like Ahmedabad will run with the game, Sethu's magic from the service line brought Bengaluru back into the business. Danial almost ended the show with his powerful spikes. But Bengaluru held themselves on, drawing errors from Ahmedabad.

Abalooch tried to use his height to bully Santhosh, but the dual block line of Santhosh and Manoj kept making crucial blocks for Ahmedabad. But with a block on Mujeeb and a magical super-serve, the Torpedoes truly brought the contest back to level pegging and pushed the match to the fifth set.

The battle between the middle Danial and Jishnu raged on in the final set. A clever block from Abalooch brought Bengaluru back into the see-saw battle. Angamuthu's spikes kept testing the Torpedoes' defence. A soft super-serve from Santhosh ended the contest and the Defenders closed out the final set to clinch the trophy.

The RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 will be telecast LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 1 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) & Sony Sports Ten 2 (Malayalam) channels in India and will be streamed on Volleyball World TV outside the Indian subcontinent, starting February 4, Saturday.

VOLLEYBALL WORLD ANNOUNCES HOSTS OF THE 2021 AND 2022 FIVB VOLLEYBALL CLUB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

Volleyball World today announced that Guangzhou INFearless Investment Co Ltd from China will organise the 2021 and 2022 editions of the men’s and women’s FIVB Volleyball Club World Championships.

Guangzhou INFearless Investment Co Ltd will host both the men’s and women’s editions for the upcoming two years. The host cities and dates will be determined at a later stage with the 2021 event planned for the end of the year. The prestigious club competition, which was first held in 1989, will enter into its 16th and 17th editions in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

The 2019 men’s and women’s editions of the event were staged in Brazil and China respectively, with Italian clubs Lube Civitanova and Imoco Volley claiming gold, while the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic following the decision of the FIVB Board of Administration.

Guangzhou INFearless Investment Co Ltd has extensive experience and credentials as organisers and service providers of volleyball events, including both the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship and Chinese Volleyball Super League “All Star Match” in 2018 and 2019, VNL 2018 leg in Jiangmen, China as well as the Guangdong home matches of the Chinese Volleyball Super League.

TVA, PHUKET GEAR UP FOR BIG EVENTS IN 2021

TVA officials on Tuesday inspected Royal Phuket City Hotel and the Phuket Gymnasium at Saphan Hin Sports Centre, which will serve as Official Team Hotel and competition venue for the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships and FIVB Volleyball Nations League in 2021.

Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Thailand Volleyball Association, led an inspection team which included AVC Secretary-General Mr Shanrit Wongprasert and TVA Secretary-General Mr Jaksuwan Tocharoen in assessing inspection and preparatory tasks in Phuket, a southern province in Thailand widely known among the world’s finest beach destinations with fine white sands, nodding palm trees, glittering seas and a lively town.

The Tuesday’s inspection was part of preparatory tasks of TVA and Phuket in an effort of jointly hosting major volleyball competitions and relevant activities next year. Both parties have initially planned to co-host the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships during March 12-15, 2020 at Saphan Hin Sports Centre and the Women’s VNL Pool 17 in June 2020.

However, on March 13, the FIVB decided to postpone the VNL until after the 2020 Summer Olympics caused by the Covid19 pandemic and after that on May 8, the FIVB cancelled the third edition of VNL to next year.

By the same token, the Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships have been postponed to August 26-29, 2020 before AVC has decided to shift the commencement of the double-gender competition to January 2021 due to the prolonged lockdown restrictions in many Asian countries, the quarantine measures and suspension of international airlines.

Therefore, to ensure that everything remains on the right track for Phuket to host both competitions next year, the inspection team arrived in Phuket to discuss with newly-announced Phuket Governor Narong Woonchiew and Phuket Municipality Mayor Ms Somjai Suwansupana about preparations and tasks which need to get done.

Aside from attending the meeting with the two key persons of Phuket to discuss the relevant matters, the TVA officials also went to inspect the Royal Phuket City Hotel to obtain first-hand information of the hotel, which will serve for players, teams and officials during their stay in Phuket for the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships in January 2021 and the Women’s VNL in June.

Furthermore, Phuket will also host the 37th FIVB World Congress, which was originally scheduled for October 15-17, 2020, but the FIVB Board of Administration has approved the rescheduling of the Congress to January 27-29, 2021 due to the global Covid19 outbreak.

The decision to reschedule the meeting to 2021 reflects the Federation’s top priority of protecting the healthy and safety of the entire Volleyball Family. Due to the rapid spread of the deadly virus which has caused greater numbers, documented infections and deaths worldwide, it is likely that the Congress will be again rescheduled until further notice. However, it has already been confirmed that the 37th FIVB World Congress will be held in Phuket, with Angsana Laguna Phuket serving as the Official Hotel.

FIVB ANNOUNCES CANCELLATION OF VNL 2020

The FIVB today announced the cancellation of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2020 due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic and its impact on host cities being able to deliver safe, accessible and high-quality competitions.

The VNL 2020 was scheduled to begin on 19 May 2020 for the women’s competition and 22 May 2020 for the men’s event. The FIVB announced the postponement of the event in March 2020, in order to protect the health of players and all involved, and hoped to find a date later in the year.

However, given the evolving nature of the pandemic, the complexity of staging the global event, across multiple host countries, and the commitment to safeguarding participants’ health, the VNL Council, the FIVB Board of Administration and the event organisers, jointly agreed to cancel this year’s edition of the VNL. The FIVB is continuing to work closely with all parties to coordinate the schedule for the VNL 2021 while retaining both Italy and China as the host nations for the Finals.

FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° said:

“Together with our partners, we had explored all the various options to host the VNL 2020. Part of what makes the VNL so special is that it is a truly global event enjoyed by players and especially by fans from all around the world. But this strength also increases its risk during this current global pandemic. It would, therefore, be imprudent, maybe even irresponsible for us to go ahead with the event when we cannot provide players and all stakeholders with the certainty that the VNL 2020 would be safe, accessible to all and held at a high level.

“Instead, our attention now turns to VNL 2021 and making sure it is our best ever edition. I know that our incredible athletes will be unrelenting in their efforts to prepare for the competition, and I have no doubt that next year will prove to be a very exciting year for volleyball.”

In addition, both the men’s and women’s editions of the 2020 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, originally scheduled to be hosted in Gondomar, Portugal and Zadar, Croatia between 24-28 June respectively, will not be held this year. Teams that qualified for the VNL 2020 in the 2019 edition of the Challenger Cup, the Slovenia national men’s volleyball team and Canada national women’s volleyball team, will retain their places for the VNL 2021.

Last year’s edition of the VNL featured 16 of the world’s best teams in each gender competing for the coveted VNL Champions title. Russia took first place in the men’s finals in Chicago, the United States and the USA took the top spot in the women’s in front of huge crowds in Nanjing, China. The event also saw more digital fan engagement than ever before, with the attraction of over 550,000 new social media followers and an incredible 3.8 billion social media impressions over the course of the competition. The VNL 2021 will look to top these figures by captivating volleyball fans across the globe once again.

FIVB ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO THE BEACH VOLLEYBALL CALENDAR IN MAY

In consideration of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and to protect the health and wellbeing of all involved, the FIVB has announced changes to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events scheduled for May.

Given the current global travel limitations, the FIVB and the event organisers have mutually agreed that the following event postponements, and one cancellation, are in the best interests of the participants’ health, and are also the fairest solution for the players.

• 1-star event scheduled for 6-9 May in Tuan Chau Island, Vietnam – postponed
• 4-star event scheduled for 6-10 May in Itapema, Brazil – postponed
• 3-star event scheduled for 6-10 May in Jurmala, Latvia – postponed
• 4-star event scheduled for 20-24 May in Ostrava, Czech Republic – postponed
• 4-star event scheduled for 27-31 May in Warsaw, Poland – cancelled

The FIVB is also reassessing all events scheduled for June, and is in ongoing discussions with Continental Confederations regarding future Continental Cup events. The FIVB acknowledges that further changes to the beach volleyball calendar are likely, and is in contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about revising the beach volleyball qualification system for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. 

Japan to host 11th edition of FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Kobe

Kobe, Japan, September 30, 2016 – The International Volleyball Federation and Eventcourt are pleased to confirm Hisamitsu Springs Kobe as hosts of the eleventh edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship from May 8 to 14, 2017.

FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said: “I look forward to seeing the Women’s Club World Championship take place in Japan for the first time. Japan has hosted many great volleyball events in the past and next year’s Women’s Club World Championship will be another FIVB event which is sure to be popular with fans in Japan who will get a chance to see the best club teams and players in the world.”

“Kobe will follow in the footsteps of Manila who will also debut as a Club World Championship host in just under three weeks' time when the 2016 women’s edition visits the Philippines for the first time, contributing to the growth of volleyball worldwide and helping the FIVB in its vision to make volleyball the number one family sport entertainment in the world.”

Japan follows Brazil (1991, 1994), Italy (1992), Qatar (2010, 2011, 2012), Switzerland (2013, 2014, 2015), and the Philippines (2016) as host country of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship.

FIVB Executive Co-opted Member Stav Jacobi said he was convinced Kobe will provide a spectacular event.

“Japan has a long tradition of hosting international top events. The Olympic Games in 1964, where volleyball celebrated its debut as an Olympic sport, the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in 2010, and the FIVB Volleyball World Cups last year are just some examples of the long and very successful history of volleyball tournaments in Japan.”

“The FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Kobe will be another big milestone in the consistent growth of international women’s volleyball.”

“The FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship has established itself amongst the top tournaments in sport over the last years and I am sure that the edition in Kobe will be another important step into a bright future for women’s club volleyball,” added Jacobi, President of Eventcourt.

JVA President Kenji Kimura said he was looking forward to the upcoming volleyball year featuring the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Kobe and the FIVB World Grand Champions Cups – also to take place in Japan.

“I believe that the development of club volleyball is necessary to improve the level of the national teams too. Therefore I hope a lot of Japanese volleyball players will get inspired and motivated by the experience of hosting this great tournament in our country.”

The 2017 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship will also be a historic event for Japanese club volleyball as Japan will field two sides in the most prestigious tournament in club volleyball.

Besides hosts Hisamitsu Springs Kobe, compatriots NEC Red Rockets will also get to play for the most coveted trophy in club volleyball. The Kawasaki-based side booked their ticket after claiming the trophy in the AVC Women’s Club Championship in Manila this month.

The spots for the 2017 CEV Champions League winners and the 2017 CSV South American Club Champions as well as the four wild cards, on the other hand, are still up for grabs.

“I wish all of the eight participants, including Japanese hosts Hisamitsu Springs and Asian representatives NEC Red Rockets, all the best and success. I know the Japanese volleyball fans are going to do everything in their power to build up a great atmosphere and to inspire all of the 

World Championships Qualification process to be confirmed by Confederations

Lausanne, Switzerland, February 2, 2016 – The FIVB Sports Events Council approved on Tuesday the concept of the qualification process for each continent for the FIVB Volleyball World Championships in 2018, which will take place in Japan (women) and Italy and Bulgaria (men) in 2018, being confirmed by respective confederations.

Each Continental Confederation will be responsible for their own qualification process and the Confederations will inform the FIVB on their agreed system by April 1, 2016.

The qualification system will be played between May 15, 2016 and October 15, 2017.

Number of participating teams and vacancies by continent

The Drawing of Lots for the FIVB Volleyball World Championships 2018 will take place by December 2017 using the FIVB World Ranking as of September 30, 2017.

World champions USA (women) and Poland (men) are automatically qualified and are joined by the host counties Japan (women) and Italy and Bulgaria (men) in not having to participate in the qualification process.

A proposal for the competition formula will be made to the FIVB Board of Administration meeting in April however the Sports Events Council did confirm the following points:

– same formula for men and women’s competition

– simple formula / easy to communicate to audience

– minimum number of matches guaranteed → 5 matches

– number of matches for the winning team → 11 to 13 matches

– maximum of 21 days of competition (2 or 3 matches per day)

– Since it is the first time that two countries host an FIVB World Championship, Italy and Bulgaria will be kept separate for the first two phases during the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2018.

The FIVB Sports Events Council meeting confirmed the venues for the five Age Group World Championships which will take place between June and August 2017.

Lausanne, Switzerland, February 2, 2016 – The FIVB Sports Events Council meeting in Lausanne on Monday and Tuesday confirmed the venues for the five Age Group World Championships which will take place between June and August 2017.

The Council also decided to submit recommendations to the FIVB Board of Administration to reduce the number of teams participating in the U18 Girls’ and U19 Boys’ World Championships from 20 to 16 and to organise the U23 Men's and U23 Women's World Championships over eight to ten days.

The 2017 edition of the Girls’ U18 World Championship will be hosted by Argentina, who also hosted the Boys’ U19 World Championship in 2015 in Resistencia Chaco and Corrientes. Bahrain will host the next edition of the Boys’ U19 World Championship in 2017.

Host cities were nominated for three Age Group World Championships. 

The cities of Boca del Rio and Cordoba in Mexico will host the U20 Women’s World Championship in 2017. 

The U21 Men’s World Championship was awarded to South-Moravia and Brno in the Czech Republic, while Ljubljana and Maribor in Slovenia will prepare to welcome the U23 Women’s World Championship in 2017.

The sixth and final Age Group World Championship in 2017 - the U23 Men's event - will be hosted on the African continent in Egypt.

Twenty teams compete in the current formats of the U18 Girls’ and U19 Boys’ World Championships, but the Council will recommend lowering this number to 16, in line with the number of teams which participate in the U20 Women’s and U21 Men’s competitions. The U23 Women’s and Men’s competitions will continue to feature 12 teams each.

Finally, the U18 Girls’, U19 Boys’, U20 Women’s and U21 Men’s competitions are all scheduled to take place over 10 days. For the U23 Women’s and Men’s competitions, the Council will recommend a minimum duration of eight days and a maximum duration of ten days.

New Zealander Polley and Tilley had all the answers, winning 21-12, 21-18, and then convincingly won their remaining two pool matches of Australian Championships on the Gold Coast

New Zealand beach volleyballers Shaunna Polley and Julia Tilley have confounded the handicappers by dominating their pool on the opening day of the Australian Championships on the Gold Coast.

Polley and Tilley, New Zealand’s top female team, were given 14th seeding for this weekend’s event, despite strong form in New Zealand this summer.

“Today coming out there mentally we thought we had something to prove, being 14th seed, so we were really hungry to take that top spot,” Tilley said.

“It’s been a busy season so far in New Zealand, which has been really good prep for us.”

The New Zealanders found themselves drawn in the opening match against tournament fourth seeds, and home town favourites, Jordan and Justine Mowen.

Polley and Tilley had all the answers, winning 21-12, 21-18, and then convincingly won their remaining two pool matches.

Despite their success, the Polley-Tilley combination may soon be coming to an end.

“I’m planning on doing a year’s worth of travel in the States, so we’re still working out how it’s going to work out for us as a team, but it’s not looking all that good,” Polley said.

“This season we’re really just starting to peak, our base level is much higher, so we’re playing a lot more consistent, and winning against some top girls.”

There were few other surprises on the opening day of competition, played in mostly dry conditions under threatening skies.

Women’s top seeds, Nikki Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar, comfortably topped their group, while the top men’s teams all emerged unscathed.

The Australian Championship finals will be played on Monday afternoon

The Kazakhstan Volleyball Federation has announced the appointment of coach Vyacheslav Shapran to lead their women's team at the World and Asian Olympic Qualification Tournamen

Astana, Kazakhstan, January 20, 2016 - The Kazakhstan Volleyball Federation has announced the appointment of coach Vyacheslav Shapran to lead their women's team at the World and Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan from May 14 to 22 and at the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix this year.

It will be the 68-year-old Almaty local's second stint with the national team. Between 2001 and 2006, Shapran led Kazakhstan to silver at the 2005 Asian Championship and to the 17th place in their first ever appearance at a FIVB Volleyball World Championship in 2006.

Kazakhstan will join Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Netherlands, Italy, Peru and the Dominican Republic at the combined World and Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament from May 14-22 in Tokyo, Japan. The top three ranked teams plus the best ranked Asian team will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. If an Asian team is ranked among the top three, then the next ranked team will be qualified.

Roberto Piazza named Qatar men's coach

The Qatar national volleyball team, which made history by making the cut for the FIVB World League, will have an Italian expert at the helm to help them negotiate tricky waters.

The national teams commission, headed by Qatar Volleyball Association President Mr. Khalid Ali Al Mawlawi, appointed Roberto Piazza as national coach on Saturday.

The experienced tactician, who is currently training Greek side Olympiacos, is expected to join the national team directly after the domestic season in Greece.

The 48-year-old, who has won every Italian club title multiple times, had a very short playing career.

He began with Italian side Pallavolo Parma’s youth team in 1985 and graduated to their senior side within two years. In 1989, he moved to Pallavolo Piacenza (Italy) and ended his playing career there.

From 1990 to 2009, he worked as an assistant coach at three clubs — Parma, Volley Treviso and Russian side Dinamo Moskva.

He got his first break as coach at Volley Treviso in 2009. After three years at the helm, he moved to another Italian club Piemonte Volley before signing on as Olympiacos coach last season.

Piazza replaced Argentinian Juan Manuel Cichello as Qatar coach. Cichello has joined the Iranian national team as an assistant coach.

In addition to the World League, Qatar will also compete in the AVC Cup in India from September 19 to 25 as well as the Arab Championship in Jordan, also in September.

Iran to host FIVB BV World Tour for first time

It has been for the first time Iran will host the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour from February 14 to 19 in Kish Island.

The registration has been open since December 21 and will last for one month. A total of 65 teams from 23 countries have so far submitted their entries. However, a number of the participating teams are expected to increase when it comes to the deadline of registration. Iran and Kazakhstan will be sending seven teams apiece, making it the highest amount of the participants to be fielded by a country.

Aside from seven teams each from Iran and Kazakhstan, the other teams to be pitted in the six-day tournament are Italy (6 teams), Austria (5), Poland (5), Norway (5), Canada (4), Germany (3), Turkey (3), USA (2), China (3), Czech Republic (2), Qatar (2), Russia (2) and one team apiece from Australia, Belgium, England, France, Lituania, Estonia, Switzerland, Venezuela , and Mexico.

Seven teams from Iran have already made their presence certain, from which the players comprise 1. Bahman Salemi/Rahman Raoufi, 2. Saber Houshmand/Abas Pourasgari, 3. Abdulhamed Mirza Ali/Ibrahim Sansabili, 4. Amir Shoushtarizadeh/Shahram Ghasemkhah, 5. Behnam Tavakoli/Arash Vakili, 6. Bahman Gholipour/Reza Naeini, 7. Parviz Farrokhi/Agh Mohammad Salagh. Mr. Kasra Ghafoori, Secretary of Beach Volleyball Organisation, said: “We are going to have one more team from Iran in the preliminary round”.

It is noteworthy to add that registration does not secure any right for the candidates. Two or three days before the starting time, final teams are decided on. However, the registration shows the amount of interest drawn into the Kish Island Open and there is still the possibility for more teams to be added. The final candidates will be selected on the basis of world ranking.

The starting numbers will be 32 teams grouping into eight four-team pools. The cash prize will be awarded to 32 teams on the basis of the final ranking.