Star-studded field confirmed for European Tour opener in Turkey

Teams from as many as 16 countries are due to contest the opening stop of this year’s CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour coming up at the end of next week in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. These include extra-European sides from Canada and Iran as well – with a team from Armenia initially registered to join the men’s event but eventually withdrawing from the competition after one of their players recently returned a positive coronavirus test.

The figures for the opening stage of the European Tour are truly impressive and they definitely show that there is much appetite across the Snow Volleyball community to compete on the international stage even in the current difficult circumstances.

The women’s competition will feature eight teams – with as many as three former ‘Queens of the Snow’ due to feature at the tournament on Turkish snow. Home favourite Bugra Eryildiz is a silver medallist from the inaugural European Championships held in 2018 – and that same year she claimed the ‘Queen of the Snow’ award to follow in the footsteps of Anna Dostalova. The Czech player is due to play in Kahramanmaras as well – as is Russia’s Olga Motrich, the most recent ‘Queen of the Snow’ from pre-pandemic times.  

The men’s tournament will feature 16 teams in the Main Draw – with 14 already sure of their spot – and the remaining ones due to start their journey in the qualification round. A team from Canada will contest the Main Draw after receiving a wild card in a field including experienced quartets from Ukraine and Russia that last year owned the podium at the only European Tour stops held in Wagrain, Austria.

As testament to the efforts made by CEV and National Federations to run Snow Volleyball events even in times of coronavirus pandemic, all Main Draw teams – with the exception of the Canadians and the home sides representing Turkey – do have ranking points to their name – as much as do the Hungarians who will start their campaign in the qualification round.

Many experienced Snow Volleyball players will make the journey to Turkey – with the list including, among others, Russia’s Yury Bogatov, Vladislav Mikhalev and Vsevolod Bobrikov, former ‘King of the Snow’ Michal Matyja of Poland and Switzerland’s Remo Spahr and Raphael Zurgilgen.

Gibraltar will be making their historic international debut in Kahramanmaras – with their trio Gomez/Pardo/Segovia due to contest the qualification round – as Snow Volleyball continues to involve more and more countries, including some without too much tradition in winter sports.

In order to provide as many opportunities as possible to players to develop their skills and for fans to enjoy the game, the CEV and the organisers have agreed on using a double elimination system for the men’s and women’s competitions in Kahramanmaras.