The Shanghai Grand Slam opening ceremony took place in front of a packed centre court
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Shanghai, China, May 2, 2012 – The Shanghai Grand Slam presented by Jinshan Xinchen was officially opened in front of a packed centre court at the Jinshan Beach Arena.
Local student athletes marched into the centre court waving the flags of the competing nations and the Chinese flag was raised, much to the delight of the crowd.
Chairman of Jinshan District Li Yueqi and the Vice-Chairman of the Volleyball Management Centre Liu Wenbin made speeches to welcome the athletes, before FIVB Technical Delegate Jeff Brehaut thanked the local organising committee for their work putting on the tournament.
Finally there was a performance from the tournament’s cheer leaders that got the crowd set for the opening match on centre court between local favourites Chen Xue and Zhang Xi and Vanuatu’s Miller Elwin and Henriette Latika.
The 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour runs over a seven month period and features 12 tournaments for both men and women.
For both men and women the season started in April in Brazil and ends in October. The men’s final event is the Agadir Open in Morocco, while for the women it is the Bang Saen Open in Thailand.
The US$600,000 Shanghai Grand Slam is the second of nine double gender events and the winners share a $43,500 purse.
It is the ninth straight year in which Shanghai has hosted a men’s FIVB SWATCH World Tour event and eighth for the women’s competition.
The women’s final takes place on 5 May, with the men’s the following day.
Following the completion of the Shanghai Grand Slam the World Tour moves onto to China’s capital for the Beijing Grand Slam from 7-13 May.
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