FIVB World Beach Tour – Moscow
- May 31 to June 4
- ‘Dynamo’ Beach Sports Centre, Vodniy Stadium
- Co-ed
- 3-Star Event
- Event Site
- Results
There will be a twist to the FIVB World Beach Tour event in Moscow, that will begin on May 31 – the tournament will feature a beach and snow competition. Though the snow volleyball side of the competition will be a feature it will not be the primary way that the players will play.
The opportunity for some of the players to play snow volleyball will be the first time that some of the competitors will see snow in their life. The snow portion of the tournament will be held at an indoor facility.
This is the 10th season that the FIVB World Tour will visit Moscow at the ‘Dynamo’ Beach Sports Centre at Vodniy Stadium in the Russian capital.
Though there have been some changes to this year’s World Tour structure, the Moscow tournament remains the same – aside from the amount of money awarded at the end of the competition. The purse prize will be $150,000 this year – as it is a three-star event. The top team out of the tournament will be award $8,000 and 600 points to their teams tally.
The competition will begin on May 31 with the qualification round of the tournament. The top teams that advance from the qualification process will enter the main draw that will take up the remainder of the tournament. June 1-2 will begin the preliminary rounds, while the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on June 3. The winners of the tournament will be crowned on June 4 at the conclusion of the finals match.
This is the final tournament that will go towards the qualification of the Vienna 2017, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship – as the FIVB extended the registration deadline to June 5, the day following the Moscow event. The results from this tournament could be crucial to some of the pairs that are trying to qualify for the 48 team (each gender) final showdown. You can read more about the qualifying process here.
Teams
There are a large number top pairs and borderline duos that will be competing, looking to improve their rankings before the deadline date. The most recent victors from the FIVB World Tour event in Rio will be traveling to Moscow, both were Brazilian pairs winning on their home court – Bruno Schmidt/Alison Cerutti on the men’s side and Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa for the women.
Returning on the women’s side for the Americans are Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes, who made their official FIVB debut in Rio with an eighth place finish to earn another 320 points. Also making their World Tour debut as a team is Lauren Fendrick and April Ross. This will be the first FIVB World Tour event for Ross since the break up of her and Kerri Walsh Jennings earlier this month.
There will be a number of top men’s American teams at the Moscow event, with Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena to play in their first FIVB World Tour event since the opener in Fort Lauderdale. Dalhausser and Lucena have been dabbling in the AVP Tour, coming out strong with two wins in the first two events. Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson will also be competing at the Russian tournament after finishing fourth in Rio.
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