FOR the second straight year the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour will make a stop in the Philippines, which is made all the more significant and historic as it will take place on the island of Boracay.
Happening from May 23 to 26 at the White House Beach Resort, Boracay Station 1, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open 2019 is set to feature 48 teams from different countries in the world which will try to emerge as victors in this leg, hosted once again by Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR), of the touring competition.
BVR said 28 teams will be competing in the men’s division while 20 pairs will dispute supremacy in the women’s division of the tournament, which was held at the Sands at SM by the Bay in Pasay City last year.
The Philippine contingent for this year is composed of three pairs for the men’s division and five for the women’s division.
Leading the battle in the men’s division for the Philippines is the Cebuano pair of Jade Becaldo and Mike Abria. They will be joined by the likes of teammates Ranran Abdilla and Jesse Lopez and the pair of James Buytrago and Anthony Arbasto, who hails from National University (NU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) respectively.
Competing in the women’s division, meanwhile, are the Negrense pair of Dij Rodriguez and BVR founder Bea Tan; UST’s Genesa Eslapor and Belove Barbon; Iloilo’s DM Demontano and Jackie Estoquia; the Iloilo and Negros connection of Fiola Ceballos and Patty Orendain; and the team of Bernadeth Pons and UAAP Beach Volleyball queen, Sisi Rondina.
At the tournament, winning teams will earn points and get a shot at joining the prestigious FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals.
Armed with its experience of hosting the event last year, BVR said participants and spectators can expect a better staging of the World Tour, which will also have a beach cleanup drive at Boracay along with a Sandroots Beach Volleyball workshop with the players teaching aspiring youth about the sport.
“It’s a big step for us because we are reaching out to all these various stakeholders and we at BVR are very thankful with the support we have been getting,” said Charo Soriano, tournament director and BVR co-founder, at the press conference for the event on Sunday at the Club Lounge of the Makati City Club.
“And we are happy for Boracay because it is one of the best beaches in the world and it is going through rehabilitation. We are also promoting what they have been doing there, partnering with different concerned agencies, making this staging of the event more historic,” she added.
Hosting the event for the second straight year, BVR said it is something it hopes to continue doing for years to come, seeing it as in line with the group’s thrust of promoting and furthering the development of beach volleyball in the country and a platform for local athletes to raise their game and showcase what they can do,
“We’re looking at this FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour as a long-term project. We want to annually be able to hold this big tournament here which is not only an opportunity for our beach volleyball aficionados but for the international community to take notice of the Philippines’ potential as a beach volleyball hub,” said Ms. Tan, whose group has been pushing for beach volleyball growth through BVR since 2016.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open 2019 will be shown on ABS-CBN S+A and iWant Sports.
For news and updates on the tournament, follow @BeachVolleyballRepublic on Facebook and Instagram, and @bvr_ph on Twitter. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
