THE Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures kicks off Thursday (December 8) with 11 men and 14 women teams vying in the knockout qualifiers at the Subic Bay Sand Court.
Only four squads from each gender will advance to the main draw of the major international beach volleyball tournament organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF).
The pairings were determined during Wednesday’s preliminary inquiry supervised by International Volleyball Federation technical delegate Barry “Baz” Wedmaier of Australia.
The men’s qualifiers feature 11 teams from Thailand, Czech Republic, Australia, Japan, USA, Israel and Austria.
The top four teams will join 11 squads from host Philippines (three), Latvia, Thailand, Gambia, Japan, Israel and Lithuania in Thursday’s main draw of the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT Home and Rebisco and also backed by Akari, F2 Logistics, Asics, SBMA, Philippine Olympic Committee, Smart Giga Play, Cignal Play, OneSports, OneSports+, Senoh and Mikasa.
Fourteen squads from Japan, Norway, Singapore, Czech Republic, Netherlands, USA, Canada, South Korea and France, on the other hand, are figuring in the women’s qualifiers where also the best four teams will make the 12-team main draw that already includes the Philippines (three), Japan, Thailand, Lithuania, Singapore, Israel, Italy and Austria.
The Futures event is the third major international competition that the PNVF hosted this year. The first two were a men and women leg of the Volleyball Nations League last June at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the Asia Volleyball Confederation Women’s Cup last August at the PhilSports Arena.
