(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Following the recent announcement of the pools for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, the full match schedule has now been unveiled for the Birmingham 2022 Beach Volleyball competition.
Host nation Team England will start the men’s competition with the Bello brothers facing Tuvalu in the opening match. Reigning Commonwealth champions, Australia, will also get their campaign underway on 30 July when they take on the Maldives in the second session of the day.
Javier and Joaquin Bello will be hoping for home crowd support for every game, but they’ll be particularly keen for a big boost from spectators in the evening session on 3 August when they face New Zealand, the bronze medallists from the Gold Coast.
In the women’s competition, the opening match on 30 July will see Gold Coast gold medallists, Canada take on Ghana in the first session of the day, whilst New Zealand and Kenya will face one another in the first evening session on the same day.
Team England’s women’s pair, Jess Grimson and Daisy Mumby, will begin their campaign on Sunday 31 July against Beach Volleyball debutants the Solomon Islands, before a home nation clash in the second session on Tuesday 2 August when they take on Scotland.
The England pair’s third group match is scheduled for the second session on Thursday 4 August against Vanuatu.
Other stand out sessions include the afternoon of 1 August when both the men’s and women’s reigning champions will feature, with Australia taking on South Africa in the men’s competition and Canada facing the Kenyan pair in the women’s competition. Sandwiched in between these two matches will be Team England’s men’s match with Cyprus.
The first session the following day (2 August) is also expected to be popular with three teams that made the podium fours years ago all featuring. Australia’s women (silver), Canada’s men’s pair (silver) and Vanuatu’s women team (bronze) will all be hoping for victory as they take on Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis and the Solomon Islands respectively.
Tickets for the Beach Volleyball start from £8 for under 16s and £15 for adults and it is one of the Birmingham 2022 sports where tickets are currently available, especially for the sessions featuring the group matches in the early stages of the tournament.
But organisers are expecting a surge in sales now that the match schedule has been revealed as Birmingham 2022 Director of Sport, Matt Kidson explained: “We know that some Beach Volleyball fans have been waiting to see the detailed match schedule before selecting the sessions that they want to attend and now we’ve released that information we are expecting a high demand for tickets, especially for the sessions featuring England and the top seeds.
“We are also expecting spectators who have never seen Beach Volleyball to flock to Smithfield, as the site will be a key hub during the Games. With evening sessions on each day of the tournament and two sports venues and a Festival Site all in the same location, the atmosphere is going to be fantastic.”
FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° said: “Beach volleyball at Birmingham 2022 is really shaping up to be a fantastic competition, and this match schedule will certainly give fans an opportunity to see the very best of our sport. With less than a month to go before the action gets underway, my best wishes go to all the participating teams for their final preparations.
“Our sport will be showcased at the heart of the Games in a purpose-built venue, and we are excited for fans both old and new to have an opportunity to experience the electrifying atmosphere of live beach volleyball.”
Commonwealth Games Federation President, Dame Louise Martin, said: “The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games are now less than a month away and anticipation is it fever pitch! The unveil of this exciting match schedule means that we all are set for a fantastic Beach Volleyball competition at Smithfield, right in the heart of Birmingham’s city centre, and I know the world-class athletes competing will showcase the very best of Commonwealth Sport.”
The quarter finals of both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be played across three sessions on Friday 5 August and the semi-finals will be played in two sessions on Saturday 6 August. Both bronze and gold medal matches will be held on Sunday 7 August.
The Smithfield site is located in the centre of Birmingham, within in easy walking distance from the city’s main rail stations and the coach station in Digbeth.
The Beach Volleyball competition court and warm up courts are located next door to the Basketball 3×3 and Wheelchair Basketball 3×3 arena, plus it was recently announced that one of the Birmingham 2022 city centre Festival Sites will also be located at the same site, making it one of the focal points for the Games.
The Smithfield site is currently under construction as the final preparations are made for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games but new CGI images have just been released to demonstrate how the site will look by the end of July. The Beach Volleyball matches will also be played with some of Birmingham’s best known landmarks, including the Rotunda, St Martin’s and Selfridges, as a bold backdrop.
To see the full match schedule and find out more about the remaining tickets for Beach Volleyball and some of the other 19 sports and eight Para sports that make up the full Birmingham 2022 sports programme, go to birmingham2022.com now.
