FIVB Updates 2017 Beach Schedule; Removes Rio

The dates of a few of the FIVB Beach volleyball World Tour tournaments have been changed.

The new schedule is listed below, with changes in bold. As previously reported, the 2017 season will begin with a one star event at Pacific Harbour, Fiji in January and continue until the final event in Qinzhou in October.

One surprising change is that the popular beach hub of Brazil will not host a stop on this year’s tour (as of yet). The removal of this event is unexpected, especially since their women’s teams have won 21 of the last 23 Championship matches, since 1994. In 2016, the Brazilian women’s team was knocked to fourth place, with Germany taking home the gold and Switzerland earning silver. However, they did get a win on the men’s side, with two Brazilian teams facing off in the finals, nabbing first and second place.

The star-rating system used for the 2017 World Tour was determined at a meeting at FIVB Headquarters on November 30, and is explained here. This system uses five stars, with five representing the most elite tournaments and one and two star tournaments facilitating broader levels of competition to develop the sport in areas where it’s not as common. This system is also spectator-friendly, as the star-rating system makes it easy for fans to determine the level of competition at each tournament.

Each gender will have 48 teams competing in the World Tour, with a maximum of 4 teams per country. Rankings for the World Tour are assigned based on the athlete’s’ entry points earned at the continental level.

The Men’s U21 World Championships will be hosted by the Czech Republic from June 23 – July 2 2017. The Women’s U20 World Championships will be held in Mexico from June 16 – June 25.

• 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar:
• January 13-14 – Pacific Harbour, Fiji (One star, double gender)
• February 7-12 – Fort Lauderdale Major, Fort Lauderdale, United States (Five star, Swatch Major Series, double gender)
• February 15-18 – Kish Island, Iran (Three star, men only)
• March 3-5 – Shepparton, Australia (One star, double gender)
• March 17-19 – Sydney, Australia (Two star, women only)
• April 15-16 – Selangor, Malaysia (One star, double gender)
• April 20-23 – Xiamen, China (Three star, double gender)
• May 23-28 – Lucerne, Switzerland (Four star, double gender)
• May 31-June 5 – Moscow, Russia (Three star, double gender)
• June 6-11 – Rome, Italy (Five star, double gender)
• June 17-18 – Principality of Monaco (One star, women only)
• June 27-July 2 – Poreč Major, Poreč, Croatia (Five star, Swatch Major Series, double gender)
• July 4-9 – Gstaad Major, Gstaad, Switzerland (Five star, Swatch Major Series, double gender)
• July 14-16 – Daegu, Korea (One star, women only)
• July 19-23 – Olsztyn, Poland (Four star, double gender) – Category to be confirmed
• July 20-22 – Ulsan, Korea (One star, women only)
• July 21-23 – Agadir Beach, Morocco (One star, double gender)
• July 27-30 – Espinho, Portugal (Two star, men only)
• August 8-13 – Hamburg Major, Hamburg, Germany (Five star, Swatch Major Series, double gender)
• October 11-15 – Qinzhou, China (Three star, double gender)
• Dates and Location TBA – The Swatch World Tour Finals (Both genders)

Removed from original FIVB 2017 World Tour Calendar:

• May 3-7 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Three star, double gender)
• May 11-14 – Prague, Czech Republic (Four star, double gender)
• July 11-16 – Nanjing, China (U21 World Championship, double gender)