Moscow, Russia, May 18, 2017 - Organisers of the 3-Star Moscow FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event will combine the top beach volleyball tournament with an innovative indoor snow volleyball event in two weeks' time, it was revealed at a Press Conference in the Russian capital.
"On May 31, the leaders of world beach volleyball - Olympic champions and silver medallists, world champions and some of the strongest beach volleyball pairs of the planet will play snow volleyball in Moscow," said tournament director Ilya Volodarsky.
"The exhibition tournament will take place in the all-season complex 'Snezhkom' and will be unique for some players, like Brazilians, who have never even see snow in their lives. It will be a kind of promo for both the beach volleyball World Tour and snow volleyball in general. After all, at the end of 2016 the new discipline of snow volleyball was officially registered in Russia, and on April 2017 Sochi hosted the first ever Russian championship. So we invite all the fans to come to 'Snezkom' and enjoy this unique spectacle."
Quick links - Beach volleyball:FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2017Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach VolleyballFIVB.com - Beach VolleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesThe World Tour tournament in Moscow will start on 31 May with qualifiers. The winners will be crowned on 4 June.
The press conference to launch the event was held at DoubleTree by Hilton Moscow-Marina Hotel. The FIVB World Tour visits Moscow for the 10th consecutive year at the 'Dynamo' Beach Sports Centre at Vodniy Stadium in the Russian capital.
"The format of the World Tour changed in 2017, with our tournament given three stars, but this only affects the prize money purse, which will be $150,000 this year. Everything else remains exactly the same - all the strongest athletes of the planet, including the Rio 2016 Olympic champions will be attending," said Mr Volodarsky.
Moscow Tournament Director Ilya Volodarsky addresses the media at the Press Conference in the Russian capital."The world beach volleyball elite knows and loves our tournament and we consistently get the highest marks. We are now working on a programme for spectators and this year it was decided to change the schedule on weekdays, extending it into the night, so that the people could get to us after a day's work. As always, there will be a lot of competitions, animators, the fans will be able relax with the whole family and enjoy one of the most spectacular Olympic sports."
"Of course, for top athletes such changes are an absolute plus," added Yaroslav Koshkarev, who will be representing Russia in the Moscow tournament together with partner Ruslan Bykanov, starting out in the qualifiers. "For other teams, reducing the number of matches is not always good. However, here there are pluses as well - with a good result you can quickly get to the decisive stages of the competition."
Marina Shcherbakova, the Beach Volleyball Coordinator of the All-Russia Volleyball Federation said that in 2017 Russia will host a number of other international beach volleyball tournaments. During the final days of World Tour in Moscow a qualifying tournament for the Youth Olympic Games will be held also at Vodniy stadium.
And the village of Yantarny in the Kaliningrad Region will host a European CEV Satellite tournament, while a CEV U18 Junior European Championship will be held in Kazan at the end of August.
The Press Confernce event was also attended by Natalia Gorguraki, General Manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Moscow-Marina.
"It is a great honor for us to host representatives of such a high level-tournament," she said. "For the third consecutive year, DoubleTree by Hilton Moscow-Marina is the official hotel of the World Tour in Moscow. We even sometimes try to pick up something new for ourselves. For example, our fitness coaches offer visitors special exercises overseen by volleyball players."