Lausanne, July 18, 2008 - The USD 600,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam 2008 in Gstaad, Switzerland, is fast approaching and there is an added element of excitement this year ahead of the super-successful annual event as it will host the Drawing of lots for the Olympic Games Beach Volleyball Tournaments. The double-gender event runs through July 21-27 and with the end of the Olympic qualification period set for July 20 the eyes of the world will be on the beautiful mountain resort of Gstaad on Saturday, July 26, as the FIVB determines the composition of the Preliminary Round pools for the Beijing Games. Ruedi Kunz, Director of the SWATCH FIVB 1 to 1 Energy Grand Slam 2008, says the excitement of the Olympic draw - which will be housed in the "Menuhin Festival" tent that can accommodate 2,000 spectators - will be complemented by some great Beach Volleyball and entertaining sideshows, including the appearance of famous Swiss pop stars and a classic comedy show. Most of the Olympic teams are expected to compete, with the stylish resort an enticing draw for the athletes. The event's ninth year follows on from the stunning success of the USD 1 milllion SWATCH FIVB World Championships powered by 1 to 1 Energy in Gstaad in 2007, where the American teams of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh captured the women's gold medal, respectively. Swiss women's effort with ninth-place finishes four times, including two each with Nicole Schnyder-Benoit (2002 and 2003) and Lea Schwer (2005 and 2006). For the Olympic drawing of lots, a "serpentine system" will be followed to determine the exact seeding in the pools of the 24 women's teams that will compete in Beijing. In both tournaments there will be six Pools (A, B, C, D, E, F), each containing four teams. Firstly, from the top six seeded teams in the FIVB Beach Volleyball Olympic ranking (featuring a maximum two teams per country), the No. 1 seed will be placed in Pool A, the No. 2 seed in Pool B and so on to the No. 6 seed being placed in Pool F.
The final composition of the Pools will be as follows:
There will be a meeting the evening after the drawing of lots to determine the match and television schedule of the first two days of the Preliminary Rounds. Qualifying for the Beijing Games concludes with a SWATCH FIVB World Tour double gender event in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille through July 15-20. For more information on qualification requirements for the Beach Volleyball Olympic Tournaments go to: www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/viewPressDB.asp?No=16279
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