Photo Credit: PRO Beach Battle/Gert Nepel
Source: CEV. It should start in about three weeks! With the Austrian Beach Volleyball Champions Cup, the coronavirus-related competition break will eventually end for the top Austrian Beach Volleyball players, as well as for their fans. The invitational event with the best 12 women’s and men’s teams in Austria will take place between June 26 and July 11 at traditional locations in Graz, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna. There will be a livestream for all games, with the Final Four tournament broadcast live by ORF Sport +.
A limited number of spectators will be able attend the competition on site. The Austrian Volleyball Association (ÖVV) is in the middle of preparations and is in close contact with the Ministry of Sport. “We have presented appropriate concepts,” explains ÖVV Secretary General Philipp Seel, “and are very optimistic that there will soon be nothing to stop the Champions Cup from taking place as we planned it and, of course, while adhering to all safety measures.”
ÖVV President Gernot Leitner is pleased to “bring our top teams back from the forced break with the Austrian Beach Volleyball Champions Cup”. In a normal season, they would mostly compete internationally. “This year, however, you will be able to admire them regularly on home courts. The Austrian Beach Volleyball Champions Cup should also be a teaser for the subsequent Austrian Beach Volleyball Tour including state championships,” explains Leitner.
Mr Seel adds on his end, “We are very optimistic that we can start a short tour in mid-July. The Champions Cup is an attractive season kick-off and at the same time a pilot project for Beach Volleyball events under corona conditions. The locations say ‘back to the roots’: the preliminary rounds are held at the training locations of the national teams, from the intermediate round on, traditional hotspots of the Beach Volleyball scene will host the event. More details will follow soon!”
Austria’s top athletes are already looking forward to the first duels. “A few weeks ago, it was not clear whether tournaments or even an Austrian Beach Volleyball tour could take place in the foreseeable future. It is cool that we will soon be able to measure ourselves in front of spectators again and present our sponsors,” Lena Plesiutschnig said.
Clemens Doppler, Vice World Champion in 2017 in Vienna, can only agree: “It is nice that life is stirring again at tournament level and the wheel of organised events is starting to spin again! Tournaments are always good, because competition ultimately stimulates competition.”
The Austrian Beach Volleyball Tour PRO, planned after the Austrian Beach Volleyball Champions Cup, should include six events for women and men (five tour stops and the national championships) in the period from mid-July to mid-September, potentially with up to 1,000 fans in the stadiums.
