Lausanne, Switzerland, November 30, 2016 - Returning for a record 17th consecutive year on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar, Switzerland will host the double-gender FIVB Lucerne 4-Star Open, one of two events in the country on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar, from May 23-28. The other event in Switzerland will be the Swatch FIVB Gstaad Major series event scheduled for July 4-9.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesA total of 33 previous FIVB World Tour events have been staged in the picturesque Swiss village of Gstaad, including 16 straight men’s events and 17 consecutive women’s events. One double-gender open for men and women was held in Lucerne in 2015. The 2007 event in Gstaad was the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Men’s championship team of the 2015 Lucerne event was Italy’s Marco Caminati/Alex Rangieri. Winning the 2015 women’s gold medal in Lucerne was Germany’s Karla Borger/Britta Buthe.
In 2016, Lucerne hosted the FIVB U-21 World Championships. Winning the men’s gold medal was Brazil’s Arthur Mariano/George Wanderley and capturing the women’s gold was Eduarda Lisboa/Ana Patricia Silva.
Lucerne is a city in central in Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 80,501 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of transportation, telecommunications and government of this region. The city's urban area consists of 17 cities and towns located in three different cantons with an overall population of about 250,000 people.
Because of its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (der Vierwaldstättersee), within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.
The highlight of the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar will be the 2017 FIVB World Championships, a 48-team (per gender) event to be held July 28-August 6 in Vienna, Austria.
The 2017 FIVB World Ranking system will include FIVB Beach Volleyball Major Series, five-star, 4-star, 3-star, 2-star and 1-star 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 are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds.
Country quota playoffs are also held, as needed, to determine the final teams for qualification tournaments.
The first men’s FIVB World Tour event was played February 17-22, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil while the first women’s FIVB World Tour event in Brazil was played in 1993 in Rio de Janeiro. The women’s FIVB World Tour held its first tournament in Spain in 1992.