Gstaad, Switzerland, July 3, 2017 - The longest continuous event in the 30-year history of the FIVB World Tour returns to this Swiss Alps village for the 18th-straight season starting Tuesday as the $600,000 Gstaad Major is the third of three Swatch Major Series events on the 2017 international beach volleyball calendar.
Starting with a women’s event in 2000 and adding the men’s competition the next year, Gstaad will be hosting a Swatch Major Series event for the third-season where men’s and women’s qualification will be staged Tuesday. Eight men’s and women’s teams will advance from the qualifier to the Main Draw pool play starting Wednesday.
The women’s group rounds will be played Wednesday and Thursday with 24 of the 32 teams competing in the money phase of the Gstaad Major playing three rounds of elimination contests to set the lineup for Saturday’s semifinal and medal matches.
The men play pool matches Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with 20 elimination contests Saturday followed by the final four action Sunday. The winning teams will share the $40,000 first-place prizes.
The Gstaad Major will be one of the last tune-up events on the FIVB World Tour calendar prior to the 2017 FIVB World Championships to be played July 28 through August 6 in Vienna.