Words & Photos: Louis Kleynhans
South Africa's surfing capital Durban will host the final Open of the season, the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball Durban Open, from 11 to 15 December 2013 and everyone is invited to come and see some of the sport’s best players battle it out on the beach. Visitors can look forward to five action-packed days at New Beach, as there is a lot at stake; a guaranteed purse of US$75,000 per gender and the bonus pool will push the total purse for the event to nearly $120,000 per gender.
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This is the first time since 2006 that South Africa has hosted an FIVB event. Durban organised an Open in 1996, while Cape Town previously hosted a Open event in 1995 and then in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Of the more than 50 male and female entries from around the world, South Africa’s 2016 Olympic Games’ hopefuls, Freedom Chiya and Grant Goldschmidt will be holding our flag high as they head the country’s contenders at the Open. Last year Grant and Freedom made history as the first South Africans to compete at an Olympic Games, where they finished in 19th place at London 2012. Freedom and Grant are hard at work preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and see this tournament as the perfect event to hone their skills in front of their home crowd.
Other South African men’s teams who have registered for the event include Jerome Fredericks/Leo Williams, Leslie Naidoo/Kiefer Govender, Ivan Solomons/Casey Augoustides, and Clinton Stemmet/Jamine Naidoo. On the ladies side, the country’s top-seeded women players, Palesa Sekhonyana/Randy Williams, will be joined by compatriots Augoustides/Kirsten Pocock, Abrahams/Natasha Strijdom, Frederikens/Gadija Jappie.
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In addition to watching some of the most sizzling volleyball action around, the public can also look forward to winning fantastic give-aways from the promoters, Geness Consulting. So if you want to be a winner, you need to be in the stands.
We wish our teams the best of luck and we will be behind you all the way.
For more information on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball Durban Open, visit www.fivb.org
