Poland poised for U23 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships

Following a memorable debut event last year, Myslowice, Poland will once again be the site of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships. The second annual double-gender age group event will be held from June 10 to 15 as the FIVB now has an unprecedented four age-group world championships for beach volleyball.

Including last year’s FIVB U23 World Championships, Myslowice has hosted a total of 11 FIVB Beach Volleyball international events. Myslowice has been the site of three men’s FIVB World Tour Open events, two women’s FIVB Tour Open events as well as three double-gender age-group world championships (U21 in 2006, U19 in 2007 and U23 in 2013).

Long the spawning sand of FIVB Beach Volleyball stars of the future, last year’s FIVB U23 World Championships in Myslowice saw Poland’s talented host-country young guns Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak win their record third FIVB age-group world championship.

Previously the young Polish duo won the U19 title in 2010 and the U21 crown in 2012. The men’s silver medal in Myslowice went to Brazil’s Vitor Felipe/Marcio Guadie. Kantor/Losiak went on to finish 18th in the final men’s 2013 FIVB season rankings and Felipe won two FIVB World Tour gold medals, one with Evandro Goncalves and the other with Brazilian Olympian Alison Cerutti.

On the women’s side last year in Myslowice, winning the inaugural gold medal of the FIVB U23 World Championships was Germany’s Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider.

As part of the initiatives of FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° and his leadership team, the FIVB Beach Volleyball U17 World Championships have been added to the annual FIVB calendar in 2014. The inaugural FIVB U17 World Championships will be held in Acapulco, Mexico from July 15 to 20.

The two long-standing age-group world championships U21 and U19 will be held in cities that have hosted other FIVB age-group events in the past. The 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships will be held in Larnaka, Cyprus, with the event set to take place from July 22 to 27. This age-group World Championship has been held every year since 2001 so this will be the 14th annual U21championships.

The 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships will be held in Porto, Portugal from July 29 to August 3. First held in 2002, this year will be the 13th annual U19 championships.

Myslowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, 70 kilometers west of Krakow. The south district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2,000,000 people – is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza and Brynica rivers (tributaries of the Vistula).

The age-group FIVB World Championships have historically seen many of the young stars of today building their experience level to advance up the ladder in international competition. This year’s 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour for professional athletes will include 10 FIVB Grand Slam events, a new FIVB Grand Slam Final and nine FIVB Beach Volleyball Open events.

The format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments – whether pro or age group 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.