2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball season to conclude in Mangaung, South Africa

The last of seven double-gender Open events on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour schedule, South Africa will once again present the FIVB Mangaung Open from December 9 to 14. It will be the second straight year that South Africa has hosted the season-finale of the FIVB World Tour, but the first time that the city of Mangaung will host a FIVB event.

The men's competition of last year's Durban Open was won by Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins while the women’s champion team was China’s new pairing of Xinyi Xia/Chen Xue.

South Africa has hosted a total of seven FIVB World Tour events (five men, two women).  In the men’s totals, Brazil has won eight medals, followed by Latvia and the USA with two each and with one men’s medal each are Argentina, Canada and Switzerland.

After two FIVB World Tour women’s events held in South Africa through 2013, Brazil and the USA are tied for the lead in the medal parade with two each followed by China and Germany with one each. Durban and Cape Town are the only two South African cities to host an international FIVB beach volleyball event, with Cape Town hosting four and Durban the other three.

The nine FIVB Beach Volleyball Opens on the 2014 FIVB World Tour include seven double-gender, one men-only and one women-only tournaments, adding numerous possibilities for athletes to compete in high quality, FIVB international competition. Over the course of the year more Open events could be added to the schedule, ensuring that all five Confederations will host a FIVB event in 2014.

The 2014 FIVB World Ranking system will include FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam and Open events along with additional pre-approved events at the inter-continental, continental and national levels.

Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments – whether FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam or FIVB Beach Volleyball Open – are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds.