Haiyang completes permanent beach volleyball venue to host FIVB World Tour stop

Haiyang, a coastal city in Shandong Province, has recently completed the construction of  the permanent beach volleyball venue for the upcoming 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Haiyang stop to be held July 18-22. 

This venue becomes the third permanent international-class beach volleyball venue in China and will also be the only permanent venue to be under continuous usage. The previous two international beach volleyball venues in China were the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games beach volleyball venue at Chaoyang Park and a venue in Jinshan, Fuzhou, Fujian Province. 

This new venue is located at Wanmi Beach in Haiyang, close to the tourist spot Junzi Lianli Island, and on the original site of the 2012 Asian Beach Games’ beach volleyball and beach soccer events. The total size of the venue is 23,000 square meters, with four competition sand courts and two training courts. The main court has a capacity of over 2,000 audience seats but the venue will also be able to expand. 

FIVB announced the addition of the Haiyang stop as a three-star event at the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in April 2018, making Haiyang one of seven three-star stops on the World Tour. Although Haiyang is only a county-level city in Shandong Province, it relies on its natural geographical advantages (230km-long coastline), and is already a familiar face in beach sports events and activities. It has played host to international sports events such as the 2012 Asian Beach Games and 2013 Asian Beach Soccer Cup and has organized the Fairy Coast Haiyang International Marathon since 2016. 

Their ambition is strong. In addition to developing this three-star World Tour stop, Haiyang will try to host a one or two-star stop event on the World Tour in the following two to three years. With support from FIVB, Haiyang will aim to become the main beach volleyball city in China. 

Source: Sina 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick