The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is headed to China for a combined men’s and women’s event April 20-23. Xiamen will host the three-star event, marking the fifth straight year the FIVB World Tour has stopped in the city.
The Xiamen stop is the second three-star event of the 2017 World Tour season, following a Feb. 15-18 tournament in Kish Island, part of Iran. The event will feature teams from 27 countries on the men’s side and from 25 countries on the women’s side.
On the men’s side, the competition will feature teams from Australia (2), Austria (4), Belgium (1), Brazil (2), Canada (2), China (2), Cuba (1), Czech Republic (2), Estonia (1), France (2), Germany (4), Israel 91), Italy (3), Japan (3), Latvia (1), Mexico (1), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (2), Norway (2), Poland (2), Qatar (2), Russia (4), Spain (1), Switzerland (4), Turkey (2), Ukraine (1) and United States (3).
Two of the top three finishers at last week’s one-star Malaysia Open are in the field, including Cuba’s Diaz Nivaldo and Sergio Gonzalez, who stood atop the podium. Bronze medalists Mart Tiisaar/Kusti Nolvak of Estonia also will be competing.
On the women’s side, teams hail from Australia (1), Austria (3), Belgium (1), Brazil (4), Canada (2), China (3), Czech Republic (2), Finland (1), France (2), Germany (4), Indonesia (1), Italy (1), Japan (3), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (2), Norway (1), Poland (2), Romania (1), Russia (3), Scotland (1), Spain (1), Switzerland (2), Turkey (1), United States (3) and Vanuatu (1).
All three medalists from the Malaysia Open will be represented in the field: gold medalists Kimberly Dicello and Emily Stockman, runner-up Martina Bonnerova/Sarka Nakladalova of the Czech Republic and bronze medalists Cornelia Rimser/Lena Plesiutschnig of Austria.
Teams in FIVB 1-Star to 4-Star events will play single-elimination tournaments for the main draw spots.
Xiamen, also known as Amoy, is a major city on the southeast coast of the China.
The FIVB released a hype video ahead of the tournament, which begins Thursday.
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