Beach Pro Tour spikefest kicks off in Subic

MANILA, Philippines — The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures kicks off today 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 yesterday’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 the Philippines (three), Latvia, Thailand, Gambia, Japan, Israel and Lithuania in the main draw of the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT Home and Rebisco and 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, the 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 incluses 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.