World Class Players Primed for Langkawi Challenge

          - Teams from Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas to Compete

          Top international beach volleyball players are set to battle it out for the upcoming Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour -- Langkawi Open 2018. Taking place from April 26-29 at Pantai Cenang in Langkawi, Malaysia, the competition will see the participation of more teams from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas in both the men's and women's categories.

          "Unlike last year's tournament with 16 teams per gender, this year will see more participants with 32 teams each in the men's and women's categories. This is a huge boost to this year's competition and a big draw for enthusiasts and fans alike from the around the region!" comments Andrew Ching, Chief Executive Office of E-Plus Global Sdn Bhd, promoter and organiser of this year's tournament.

          The teams represented in the men's competition include: Austria, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and hosts Malaysia. The women's category will feature teams from Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Malaysia.

          Datuk Benny Hoe, President of the Malaysia Volleyball Association notes, "The initiative taken by the promoter E-Plus Global is greatly applauded as this will surely elevate the interest in the sport, particularly as our Malaysian teams will get a chance to play against some of the best teams in the world."

          The competition will commence with qualifiers on Thursday (April 26) and the main draw on Friday (April 27). The round of 12 and quarterfinals is scheduled on Saturday (April 28) with the semi-final and medals-determining matches on Sunday (April 29). In addition to valuable ranking points, competitors can also look forward to a share of the US$10,000 prize money.

          With the FIVB as the governing body for the Olympic sport of Volleyball, the Langkawi event is part of the World Tour 1-Star (WT1) tournament. A win in this professional men and women's tour is considered by athletes to be amongst the highest accolades in international beach volleyball competitions.

          After Langkawi, the tour will continue with the Manila Open (May 3-6) and Bangkok Open (May 10-13).