The officials during the drawing of lots of the CAVB Junior Beach Volleyball Cup in Togo

Lome, Togo, June 28, 2012 - Hosts Togo were drawn with Sierra Leone, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire in Pool A of the CAVB Men’s Beach Volleyball Cup which will start at Lome Beach in the capital of Togo on Friday.

The tournament is a qualifiying event for the FIVB SWATCH Junior World Championships to be held in Halifax, Canada from August 29 to September 2.

Meanwhile, South Africa face Guinea Conakry, Ghana and Burundi in the Men’s Pool B.

In the women’s draw Nigeria will line up alongside Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Conakry in Pool A, while Sierra Leone take on Gabon, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Rwanda in Pool B.

The drawing of lots was completed on Thursday in the Togolese capital in the presence of Togo Volleyball Federation President Ayaovi Babanawothe, CAVB supervisor David Kabre, event supervisor Ali Yaro, CAVB Beach Director May Alaa, referee delegate Hazem El Sherbini AND assistant referee delegate Hannington Nsubua.

The first ever African cup for the junior category features a total of 11 counties, who qualified via continental zonal qualification tournaments.

In the men’s category, eight countries participate where they are divided into two preliminary pools playing in a single round robin format. The top two countries of each pool qualify to the semifinal to play for the top four positions, while the third and fourth ranked teams play for the five to eight positions.

In the women’s gender, nine countries participate where they are divided into two pools with pool A comprising four teams while Pool B includes five.