Competition schedule, cities and halls announced

Lausanne, Switzerland, 24 Jan, 2002 - The competition schedule, cities and competitions halls for Volleyball's premier women's annual tournament, the US$1 million World Grand Prix, was announced Thursday.

The 2002 event will feature Sydney 2000 Olympic Games gold, silver and bronze medallists Cuba, Russia and Brazil, 2001 World Grand Champions Cup winner China, defending World Grand Prix champion USA, as well as Thailand, Japan and Germany in the eight-team competition.

China, Japan, Thailand, Macau, Philippines and Taipei will host legs of the event, which will be held over a four weekend period from 12 July to the 4 August 2002. The four-team finals series will be held in Hong Kong on the final weekend.

Week 1: July 12 - 14

Tokyo, Japan GROUP A: JPN, THA, GER, BRA

Chengdu, China GROUP B: CHN, RUS, CUB, USA

Week 2: July 19 - 21

Manila, Philippines GROUP C: BRA, GER, USA, RUS

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand GROUP D:THA, JPN, CHN, CUB

Week 3: July 26 - 28

Macau GROUP E: GER, THA, CHN, BRA

Miau Li, Chinese Taipei GROUP F: JPN, RUS, CUB, USA

Week 4: (FINALS) August 1 - 4

Hong Kong (4 participating teams)

For the final round, China plus the top three ranked teams after the preliminary rounds will qualify.

World Grand Prix 2002, Cities and competitions hall

2002 World Grand Prix match schedule

Tokyo, Japan, 26 November 2001 – The teams and schedule for volleyball’s premier women’s annual tournament, the US$1 million World Grand Prix, was announced in Tokyo on Monday.

The 2002 event will feature Sydney 2000 Olympic Games gold, silver and bronze medallists Cuba, Russia and Brazil, 2001 World Grand Champions Cup winner China, defending World Grand Prix champion USA, as well as Thailand, Japan and Germany in the eight-team competition.

China, Japan, Thailand, Macau, Philippines and Taipei will host legs of the event, which will be held over a four weekend period from 12 July to the 4 August 2002. The four-team finals series will be held in Hong Kong on the final weekend.

The World Grand Prix Council is also considering expanding the competition to twelve teams and to include legs in Europe and NORCECA for the 2003 edition, following strong interest from other continents to host the event.

One of the key decisions made by the World Grand Prix Council was that China, Korea and Japan must organize events to guarantee participation in the annual event. Korea was replaced by Thailand for the 2002 edition because it said it was not prepared to organise a leg of the event next year.

"The 2000 Olympic Games and the hugely successful World Grand Champions Cup which just concluded in Japan to sold-out stadiums and consistently high television ratings on NTV, has against illustrated that volleyball is the leading women’s team sport in the world," said FIVB President, Dr. Ruben Acosta after the announcement in Tokyo.

"We are committed to expanding women’s sport and ensuring gender equity in all continents of the world," he added.