METRO NEWS HALIFAX

Sun, sand look grand for v-ball

Free ‘community day’ set to kick off five-day world junior beach volleyball tournament tomorrow

MATTHEW WUEST METRO HALIFAX

Published: August 30, 2011 1:07 a.m.

Organizers of the FIVB world junior beach volleyball championships are hoping clear skies are all that follow post-tropical storm Irene.

The five-day event is set to begin tomorrow on the Halifax waterfront’s Salter lot, with close to 400 athletes from more than 25 countries participating.

“It’s a very weather-driven event,” said event manager Derek Martin. “The athletes are getting into town, getting exciting, and, hopefully, the (inclement) weather has moved on through and we can get going. It looks like it’s going to be a nice week, so that’s exciting.”

Martin said despite some minor storm delays, construction is finished on the temporary six-court facility and its accompanying bleachers. As of Sunday, there were about 1,000 tournament passes still available, half of the 2,000 passes they started with.

Qualification action is free to attend tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m. Full-week passes range from $40 to $80.

The main draw will be held Thursday and Friday, followed by quarter-finals and semifinals on Saturday, and medal games on Sunday. The women’s championship goes Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and the men’s follows at 3:45 p.m.

Reigning champs
Canada is the event’s defending men’s champion, with Garrett May and Sam Schachter, both of Toronto, winning gold in Turkey in 2010.