CEV, Luxembourg. With international competition slowly but surely returning, the home of European Volleyball in Luxembourg played host earlier this morning to the Drawing of Lots for the final stage of this year’s #EuroVolleyU18M. The event will be taking place in Lecce and Marsicovetere, Italy, from September 5-13 with strict hygiene protocols in place, in compliance with the latest guidelines provided by international and national health authorities.
The event features 12 teams – the 5 winners of the zonal qualifiers held in late 2019 / early 2020 – plus hosts Italy and another 6 teams taken from the latest European ranking in this specific age group. Earlier this year, the CEV cancelled the second round of qualifications due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the Board of Administration deciding that any remaining vacancies would go to the National Federations not already qualified with the best position in the European ranking.
The 12 teams will start their journey in two pools of six each, whose composition reads as follows:
Slovakia will play in Pool I, while Czech Republic is seeded in Pool II
Hosts Italy and the Czech Republic, the top team from the U18 Men European ranking, head their respective pools. All other teams were divided into five cups of two teams each – and drawn accordingly into Pool I and II.
The top two from each pool will progress to the semis and medal matches, with the no. 3 and 4 from each pool contesting the classification matches for places 5-8.
Germany are the defending champions as they claimed gold at the last edition of the event held in April 2018 in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czechs and Italy were the eventual silver and medal winners two years ago in Zlin.
Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball
