As many as 16 teams are taking part in the under way Youth (U21) Beach Volleyball Championship which began on Thursday. The tournament is under supervision and organisation of the Oman Volleyball Association (OVA) and will conclude on Sunday.
The four days event is open for both men’s and women's youth categories. The participating 16 teams are distributed into four groups as Group A featured Al Seeb, Al Batinah, Al Qaran and Qurayat (C) teams.
Group B comprised Qurayat (A), Suhar, Al Suwaiq and Al Kifaah teams. Masirah (B) headed Group C beside Al Khaleej, Masirah (C) and Al Kuhwairiah teams. Group D features Qurayat (B), Masirah (A), Al Qalaa and Al Shabab teams. Besides that seven more women's teams are taking part in the tournament.
The official tournament inauguration took place on Thursday in presence of Dr Mohammed bin Marhoon al Mamari, Vice-Chairman of OVA. The event venues are the sands court in the Suhar Sports Complex and sands court in the Suhar Puplic Park.
“The purpose of the tournament is to explore new faces from youth category to join in the national teams for the coming external participation. These friendly and open events are great opportunities to select the most appropriate and potential candidates in an official competition platform. We are sure that the tournament will produce some new faces who will represent the national teams in the coming near future,” Dr Mohammed al Mamari said.
MASIRAH 'B', FANJA, SUHAR ADVANCE
The first preliminary round matches concluded with progression of Masirah B, Fanja, Al Khaleej, Suhar, Al Suwaiq, Al Kuhwairiah, Qurayat (A), Masirah (C), Al Seeb, Al Shabab, Al Kifaah, Masriah (A), Qurayat (B), Qurayat (C), Al Batinah and Al Qalaa teams to Round 16. The quarterfinals will be held on Saturday while the finals will take place on Sunday.
In last November, Suhar was the venue for the international world-class event represented by Oman Beach Pro Tour Future which was held under organisation of OVA in coordination with FIVB, the world governing body of volleyball. Oman’s duo Mazin al Hashmi and Hood al Jalbobi ended the international tournament as runners-up as they had lost the final clash against Chinese pair HA Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin 22-24, 16-21.
It is expected that OVA will organise another a mega volleyball event this year and the details will be unveiled later after OVA obtained all the confirmations.
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