Thailand will host the last stop on 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour. The tournament is called the Bangsaen Thailand Open powered by PTT and will be held at Laemtean, Bangsaen from 23–28 October. Thai fans will be able see over 60 teams in action including the cream of the women’s beach volleyball teams who competed in the Olympic Games in London. Admission is free and for the first time on the World Tour in Thailand, feature matches will be played in the evening under lights.
This year’s season finale has drawn the best women’s beach volleyball teams from around the world to Bangsaen; including current World Champions and Olympic bronze medalists, Julian and Larissa from Brazil. They will be battling it out for the year-end No 1 ranking with China’s Xue and Zhang Xi, who finished fourth in the Olympics and are the reigning champions of the Thailand leg of the World Tour.
City officials, tournament organizers and sponsors pose for a photo at a press conference held to announce the 23–28 October Beach Volleyball championship.
Olympic silver medalists Kessy and Ross from the USA who are currently occupying the No 5 spot in the world rankings have also entered along with Olympic quarter-finalists; Cicolari and Menegatti from Italy, the Schwaiger sisters from Austria, Holtwick and Semmler from Germany and Kolocova and Slukova from the Czech Republic.
To date, 60 teams from 21 countries have already entered including; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia , Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA and Vanuatu. Entries are open until the end of September.
Thailand as host country is allowed 2 automatic slots in the main draw, which have been given to the 2 top teams; Radarong and Udomchavee and Sannok and Tenpaksee. The Thai teams have been successful in Asia, with Radarong and Udomchavee winning 3 Asian Tour events and the gold medal at the Asian Beach Games. Currently Radarong and Udomchavee are competing in the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour event in Finland.
The Bangsaen Thailand Open powered by PTT is played over 6 days of competition. Matches start from 09.00 daily, with evening feature matches being played from 24–26 October.
Current World Champions, Julian and Larissa from Brazil.
The semi-finals on Saturday 27 October and finals on Sunday 28 October will be held from 16.00–18.00, with a “live” TV broadcast on both days on NBT and T-Sports in Thailand and internationally to over 700,000,000 households worldwide.
Supporting the main event are a number of activities including the PTT Schools Cup and PTT Beach Volleyball camps on the finals weekend and a large sponsor activity zone featuring sponsor booths, a beer garden and games and competitions for beach volley fans. Admission to the tournament is free throughout the week.
The Bangsaen Thailand Open powered by PTT is supported by the Sports Authority of Thailand, PTT Public Company Limited, Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organization, Saensuk Municipality, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai Beverage Marketing Co., Ltd, TOT Public Company Limited, FBT, Philips Lighting and T.P Link.
Umbrella sponsors of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour are Swatch, Mikasa and Descente.
For more information on the tournament, please contact Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd at Tel: 02 311 3414/5 or via the website at www. pentanglepromotions.com.
