Bangkok, Thailand, March 29, 2024 – The Asian Volleyball Confederation has recently launched its 2024 beach calendar that not only offers thrilling competitions, but also outlines the AVC’s official beach volleyball events in this Olympic year.
The action-packed season will kick off in the Southeastern Zone when the Philippines is set to host the double-gender AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in City of Santa Rosa between April 4 and 7, while Honiara, Solomon Islands will organize the Oceania Zonal U19 Beach Volleyball Championships from April 11 to 13.
After that, Songkhla, an undeniably historic province in southern Thailand, rich with cultural heritage and an abundance of tourist attractions and amazing number of seaside resorts, will take center stage as it will organize the AVC Beach Tour Samila Open, the annual event which was initially held more than two decades ago.
The 23rd edition of the double-gender Samila Open is due to take place from April 13 to 16, during which Thai people across the country are celebrating the Thai New Year called Songkran or the “Water-Sprinkling Festival” which falls on April 13-15 each year. Participating players, officials and all visitors can join the Thailand’s Songkran spectacle filled with beauty, tradition and exhilarating water splashes ahead of the tough competition.
Another AVC event will also be held in Thailand when Roi Et, a central northeastern province which proves no stranger to beach volleyball as it has regularly organized several Asian Underage Beach Volleyball Championships and the last year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships in particular, will host the Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships for two times in a row.
After a successful 4th Asian U19 Championships in 2022 in Roi Et, the 5th edition will take place from May 1 to 5 in the same province. However, ahead of the Asian meet, participating teams from Southeast Asia stand a chance of sharpen their skills as the province will host the Southeast Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships between April 25 and 28, which serves as a stepping stone towards their competitive aspirations in the Asian Championships a few days later.
Between May 19 and 24, Jordan will organize the 2024 West Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in Amman, aiming high that regional beach volleyball players will make their presence felt there to vie for the eventual men’s and women’s crowns of West Asia.
In June, Ningbo, China will host the AVC Continental Cup Semifinals from June 16 to 18 and Finals between June 21 and 23. The top-flight tournament featured the participation of eligible National Federations and acted as an additional route through which federations are able to qualify one (1) beach volleyball team per gender for the Paris Olympic Games, according to the FIVB Beach Volleyball Qualification System for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Those federations had already competed in 5 zones of Asia (Zonal Phase or Phase 1) during January-December 2023, with the exception of the champion NFs of the previous AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Finals.
A total of 5 winning NFs will automatically qualify for Phase 3 (Finals), while the first runner-up NFs per gender from Phase 1 (5 NFs) plus one host NF will test their mettle in Phase 2 (Semifinals). In case that host NF had already qualified for Phase 3 (Finals), the Phase 2 competition will be contested by 5 NFs.
A total of 8 NFs will compete in the AVC Continental Cup Finals, vying for the lone berth in each gender for the Paris Olympic Games. The participating teams comprise the 5 winning NFs per gender from Phase 1 plus one host NF, 2021 Continental Cup champion NF and one winning NF from Phase 2.
Following the conclusion of all zonal phases, lined up to take part in Phase 2 (Semifinals) in Ningbo, China from June 16 to 18 are Hong Kong China, India, Oman, Thailand and Vanuatu in the men’s event and Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and Vanuatu in the women’s competition. The winners of this event will go directly into the AVC Continental Cup Finals at the same competition venue during June 21 and 23.
With only one winning NF in each gender in Phase 2 (Semifinals) making the cut for Phase 3, teams already qualified for the Finals comprise Men: Australia (defending champions), China (hosts), Indonesia (Southeastern Asia), Iran (Central Asia), Japan (Eastern Asia), New Zealand (Oceania) and Qatar (Western Asia), while securing their berths in the Women’s Finals consists of China (defending champions), Japan (Eastern Asia), Kazakhstan (Central Asia), Lebanon (Western Asia), New Zealand (Oceania) and Thailand (Southeastern Asia). The eventual winning NFs in each gender will then make it to the Paris Olympic Games.
Ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26-August 11), Tianjin, China will host the double-gender AVC Beach Tour Tianjin Open from July 11 to 14. After that, the AVC Beach Tour Dayuan Open will take place in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei between August 23 and 26.
Meanwhile, following a fruitful organization of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in 2018 in Nanjing, China has already been confirmed to host the 2024 edition in Shangluo, a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shaanxi province, from August 27 to September 1, with 32 of the world’s most talented U19 beach volleyball duos per gender battling it out for the ultimate title.
Boasting a rich history, tracing its roots back to 257 AD and renowned for its natural reserve, Shangluo has already hosted the Chinese National Beach Volleyball Championships in 2023 in a packed stadium with a total of 15,000 people over four days of the thrilling action. Shangluo is expected to become a center of attraction again when the top-tier event is just around the corner.
The Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships are also set to be held this year. As Volleyball World will be in charge of all AVC’s senior volleyball and beach volleyball events, the host nation of this top-flight competition has yet to be announced.
However, following the signed contract between FIVB, Volleyball World and AVC, Volleyball World will be in charge of the senior International volleyball and beach volleyball events in Asia to explore and enhance the commercial potential, focusing on the growth of the sport and its sustainability and serving millions of fans across the entire region.
AVC will keep you all informed on further updates of the 2024 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in terms of the host nation and the competition dates. Please stay tuned!
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