All medallists from the last edition of #EuroVolleyU20M held in 2018, with Czech Republic (silver), Russia (gold) and Belgium (bronze)
CEV, Luxembourg. The Drawing of Lots for the 2020 edition of #EuroVolleyU20M took place on Thursday morning at the ‘home of European Volleyball’ in Luxembourg, with 12 teams due to compete in Brno from September 26 to October 4 for the medals as well as for two much coveted spots at stake to represent Europe at next year’s FIVB U21 World Championship.
The U20 continental competition returns to Brno after the second largest Czech city previously played host to this event in 2008 and 2014. It will be taking place shortly after the 2020 edition of theU20 Beach Volleyball European Championship – which is due to run in Brno as well from September 9 to 13. This will account for a few weeks of intense competition in Brno – a city where Volleyball is literally at home.
The 12 participating teams will commence their journey in the pool stage, with the respective group composition reading as follows:
The top two teams from each pool will play semis and medal matches, with the no. 3 and 4 in each group contesting the classification matches 5-8.
Two years ago, when the Netherlands and Belgium co-hosted the event, Russia emerged as the eventual winners after edging the Czech Republic in the gold medal match. Russia are the most successful team in the history of the competition with as many as 19 titles to their name – including 11 claimed by the former Soviet Union.
Earlier this year, the CEV had to cancel the second and third stage of the qualification process following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, with 11 teams joining hosts Czech Republic as per the latest European Ranking in this specific age group. The procedure for the Drawing of Lots reflected this ranking as well, with hosts Czech Republic and Russia (the no. 1 nation in Europe) placed at the top of Pool I and II, respectively, and the 10 remaining teams divided into five cups of two each as per their position in the European Ranking and drawn from left to right.
A comprehensive match schedule for the pool stage of the tournament will follow in due course.
The organisers, participating teams and all staff will have to follow very strict hygiene and health measures to comply with the policies adopted by the national authorities as well as with the relevant CEV protocols and guidelines to prevent any risk of infection from the novel coronavirus.
Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball
CVF – Czech Volleyball Federation
