Lausanne, Switzerland, May 12, 2017 – Changes will be made to the Moscow 3-Star and The Hague 3-Star competition systems due to recent changes to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar and their impact on the number of matches in the 2016-2017 season.
The tournament format will be played in two phases, i.e. a first phase of modified pool play of eight pools per gender with four teams per pool; the top three ranked teams will advance to the second phase, which will be played in single elimination format for a bracket of 24 teams.
This will be:
• To increase the number of teams in the Qualification Tournament from 16 to 24 per gender.
• To adopt the same competition format as for the Rio 4-Star event (modified pool play followed by the single elimination bracket of 24 teams), for the Main Draw tournament of the above mentioned 3-star tournaments.
This will ensure each Main Draw team will play at least twice.
Moscow 3-star schedule:
Preliminary Inquiry Qualification Tournament: 9:00-11:00, Wednesday, May 31
Qualification Tournament: starting 13:00, Wednesday, May 31
Preliminary Inquiry Main Draw: 12:00-20:00, Wednesday, May 31
Main Draw (Pool Play + Round of 24, Round of 16): Thursday & Friday, June 1-2
Quarterfinals and semi-finals: Saturday, June 3
Finals: Sunday, June 4
The Hague 3-star:
Preliminary Inquiry Qualification Tournament: 9:00-10:30, Wednesday, June 14
Qualification Tournament: starting from 13:00, Wednesday, June 14
Preliminary Inquiry Main Draw: 19:00-20:00, Wednesday, June 14
Main Draw (Pool Play + Round of 24, Round of 16): Thursday to Saturday, June 15-17
Quarterfinals and semi-finals: Saturday, June 17
Finals: Sunday, June 18
Based on the number of events and following the results of the above competition format the next World Council and Beach Volleyball Commission will make a decision about the competition format to be adopted in the future for 1-4 star events from the 2017-2018 season and beyond.