Countdown for SWATCH FIVB World Championships 2009
With 100 days until the US$1 million SWATCH FIVB World Championships in Stavanger, the event promoters on Tuesday organized a Beach Volleyball tournament in Oslo to mark the special occasion.
Picture from the 2006 event in Stavanger. Photo: Stavanger-Web.
Promoters World Event invited seven of the best Norwegian Beach Volleyball players – Bjørn Maaseide, Iver Horrem, Katrine Maaseide, Nila Hakedal, Ingrid Tørlèn, Tarjei Skarlund and Jorre Kjemperud – to take part in the tournament.
Top Norwegian celebrities also attended, including Tone Damli Aaberge (most popular Norwegian artist), Tommy Steine (most popular Norwegian comedian), Bjørn Einar Romoren (world-record holder in ski-jumping), Ailo Gaup (world champion in freestyle motocross), Kristofer Hastad and Bjørn Helge Riise (Norwegian national team football players), Glenn Solberg (one of the best handball players in Norway) and Cathrine Larsaasen (Norwegian record holder in pole vault).
Media representatives gathered at the tournament, which served as a taster for the 2009 SWATCH FIVB Men’s and Women’s World Championships which are set to take place over 10 days on two courts from June 26 to July 5 with US$1 million prize money and bonus pool up for grabs.
The 2007 World Championships were held in Gstaad, 2005 in Berlin, 2003 in Rio de Janeiro, 2001 in Klagenfurt, Austria; 1999 in Marseille, France; and 1997 in Los Angeles. Before this, the World Championships were played yearly in Brazil from 1986.
The 2009 host city of Stavanger has organized top-class FIVB Beach Volleyball events for the last 10 years with great success, with this year’s event to be hosted once again in Vågen, downtown Stavanger.
There will be an 8,000-seat arena, with players from more than 30 countries set to compete. Hundreds of accredited national and international media are expected in Stavanger for the event.
Excitement is growing in the host country: Norway Minister of Sports Trond Giske was reported to have said last week that the SWATCH FIVB World Championships is the biggest sport event in Norway for many years.
Tickets are already available at www.vmstavanger.com
