Ajman to host two major beach volleyball events

Ajman will host two major beach volleyball competitions from November 19 to 27 during the '2011 Ajman Beach Festival' which also coincides with the 40th anniversary celebrations of the UAE's 'Spirit of the Union'.

It will also raise the profile of beach sports in Ajman and UAE in general with Dubai having hosted the Footvolley World Cup and set to stage the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup next week.

The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Volleyball Continental Cup which begins on Saturday is a pre-qualification for the London Olympic Games.

This competition which runs until Tuesday will attract six teams - Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq and hosts UAE.

The top three will proceed to New Zealand for the final round of qualifying in New Zealand to secure a place in the Olympics.

"The final qualifying will see three teams from West Asia join the three best teams from Far East to decide one team will go to London 2012," said Amer Ali, president of UAE Volleyball Association (UAEVA) at a press conference  on Tuesday.

The UAE team began an internal training camp under coach Muneer AlBoushi in a bid to make it to London.

The second tournament is the Gulf Beach Volleyball Championships to be held from November 25-27 with the participation of teams from all six GCC countries.

"It is good to see Ajman hosting two tournament during UAE National Day celebrations under the patronage of Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman," said Ali.

"Ajman has great beaches which is a major attraction and they have people who are very good in organising such events," added the UAEVA chief.

"This is really one of many activities Ajman has made for the celebration of 40 years of the UAE national union. There is lot of events on the beach of Ajman," said Saeed Saif Al Matrooshi, secretary general of the Ajman Executive Council.

Many traditional events for families has been organised along the Ajman Corniche during the festival.

"We want to make Ajman one of the famous beaches for beach sports. Having successfully hosted the GCC Beach Volleyball Championships last year, we want to promote Ajman as the best sporting destination," he added.

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