Eric Ogenia, second from right, speaks during the press conference held in Curacao to announce the tournament

Willemstad, Curacao, November 25, 2012 – The NORCECA Group A First Round Tournament of the FIVB Men’s World Championship will take place at the International School Auditorium in Willemstad, Curacao on December 1-2.

Hosts Curacao, Jamaica, Bahamas and Martinique will compete in the two-day event to define three teams who will advance to next year’s second phase.

Jamaica and Curacao are currently placed 17th and 19th in NORCECA rankings while Bahamas is currently placed 8th and Martinique is not ranked.

Teams will play two daily matches on December 1 and one on December 2 in a round-robin format, and then those placed first and second will decide the top position and the third and fourth placed sides will dispute the last ticket to the second round of 2013 in the evening of December 2.

The NORCECA Group A Men’s event is the eighth and last tournament organized by the confederation this year under its development plan designed to give more competitive opportunities to national teams of the less developed countries.

"We are happy to have the opportunity to organise the first round in the men’s leg and this is going to be good for volleyball on the island," stated Eric Ogenia, president of Curacao Volleyball Federation.

"Our players have been in training since March and we hope to have a good performance in the competition,” Ogenia added.

The competition schedule is as follows:

December 1
9:00   Jamaica v Bahamas
11:00 Curacao v Martinique
18:00 Jamaica v Martinique
20:00 Curacao v Bahamas

December 2
9:00   Bahamas v Martinique
11:00 Curacao v Jamaica
18:00 Third v Fourth
20:00 First v Second

First round men’s tournaments:

Group B at St Lucia (April 27-29)
1. St Lucia, 2. St Vincent & Grenadines, 3. Grenada, 4. St Eustatius
Group G at El Salvador (May 18-20)
1. Honduras, 2. Panama, 3. El Salvador, 4. Turks & Caicos
Group F at British Virgin Islands (June 6-8)
1. Dominica, 2. St Kitts & Nevis, 3. British Virgin Islands, 4. Montserrat
Group H at Costa Rica (July 27-29)
1. Guatemala, 2. Costa Rica, 3. Nicaragua, 4. Belize
Group D at French St Martin (August 31-September 2)
1. Antigua & Barbuda, 2. French St Martin, 3. Anguilla, 4. Dutch St Marteen, 5. Bermuda
Group E at Cayman Islands (October 6-7)
1.Suriname, 2. Barbados, 3. Aruba, 4. Cayman Islands
Group C at Dominican Republic (November 3-4)
1.Dominican Republic, 2. Haiti, 3. Guadeloupe, 4. U.S. Virgin Islands

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