Live Group Draw Online Tonight at 8

If you can't join us tonight,
it will look something like this,
only without Diego Maradona.

The second biggest sporting event in Abu Dhabi tonight , after the Asia Cup Semifinal, is definitely the Al Muneera Beach Volleyball Tournament group draw.  Starting at 8 o'clock the table below will be filled in as teams are drawn from a hat.  If you can't join us in Al Muneera, you can log on here and see your team's group and start time revealed (just keep hitting refresh). The draw will be totally random, but teams that have said they can't get to Al Muneera by 8 o'clock on Saturday morning will not be placed into the first group.  Remember it is a double elimination tournament, so even if you are in a very tough group, you'll have plenty of chances to advance in the tournament.  Good luck to everyone.

We've got sponsors!

We've got our first two sponsors for the tournament! Special thanks to Eliza who ran around the Al Muneera Beach Plaza and asked the local businesses to help us out.  La Brioche and Tawa Bakery were the first to respond.  Every one who plays in the tournament can get a 10% discount  at both restaurants on Saturday. Tawa loves beach volleyball so much that they'll give us 10% off for the whole month.  If you are deciding where to get a bite to eat on Saturday, please think about eating at one of these sponsors.

Tournament Format

Tournament Format

The Al Muneera tournament involves 12 teams and only one net.  We don’t want teams to have too long between matches, so the tournament format was designed to get all of us onto the court for at least five matches with the shortest wait time between matches possible.   

Group Draw

We will draw teams randomly out of a hat to determine which four teams will play in each group.  We aren’t going to make any assumptions about which teams are the strongest, so the group draw is going to be completely random.  It would be fun to gather for the dramatic reveal of our tournament groups in one of the Al Muneera cafes or restaurants some evening next week.  If you’re interested, comment below or let the WhatsApp group know.

Group Play

Group Matches will be played to a total of 20 points instead of to a particular score.  That means games may end with a score of 10 – 10, 11 – 9, 15 – 5, or any other combination that adds up to 20.  The wind and the sun can be a big factor, especially early in the morning, so teams will switch sides after 10 total points have been scored. 

Teams will be awarded 2 points for a victory, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss in each of their Group Matches.  Total match points scored will also be tracked and the results of Group Play will be used for seeding in the double elimination tournament.

Main Bracket

Every team will be placed into the Main Bracket based on the group stage results.  Matches in the Main Bracket will be to 15 points with side changes every seven points.  The 5^th through 12^th teams from the group stage will battle in the first round to advance in the Main Bracket and the top four teams will get a first round bye.  The winning teams in each round will advance to the next round and the losing teams will be moved to the Last Chance Bracket.  The final two teams in the Main Bracket will advance to the Championship Bracket.

Last Chance Bracket

The Last Chance Bracket matches are also played to 15 points with side changes after every 7 points.  Each match is identified by a letter of the alphabet.  LA vs LF indicates that the loser of match A will play against the loser of match F.  If you win in the Last Chance Bracket, you get to keep playing.  If you lose, your tournament is over.  Please stick around and cheer for the other teams and enjoy a great day at the beach watching your friends play.  The final two teams in the Last Chance Bracket advance to the Championship Bracket.

Matches in both the Main Bracket and the Last Chance Bracket will be played in their alphabetical order.  So, there will be eight Main Bracket matches followed by four Last Chance Bracket matches, then back to the Main Bracket and so on.

Championship Bracket

The Championship Bracket is the final four teams of the tournament.  Matches in this stage will be played to 21 points with side switches every 7 points.  At this stage, it is no longer a double elimination tournament.  If your first loss of the tournament happens in the semifinal round, there are no second chances. 

Timings

Based on our usual match lengths when we play 3 v 3 this is the latest estimated timings for the start of each round of the tournament.  If things are moving more quickly than expected, we will start each round earlier, so please pay attention and be ready to play as soon as the match ahead of yours ends.

1^st Group Start – 8:00

2^nd Group Start – 8:45

3^rd Group Start – 9:30

Main Bracket Round 1 Start – 10:15

Main Bracket Round 2 Start – 10:55

Last Chance Bracket Round 1 Start – 11:35

Main Bracket Round 3 Start – 12:15

Last Chance Bracket Round 2 Start – 12:35

Last Chance Bracket Round 3 Start – 12:55

Championship Round Start – 1:15

2019 Al Muneera Beach Volleyball Tournament

Welcome to the website of the 2019 tournament.  Keep visiting this page over the next two weeks to find everything you need to know about the February 2nd event.

The Idea

Every weekend some members of our beach volleyball community get together for informal matches, but last year the group decided to organize a more formal one-day event.  It was a great success, so we're going to do it again this year. On February 2nd, we'll have 12 teams competing for the title of Al Muneera Beach Volleyball Champions.

Register to Play

If you want to join us, please sign up here.  You can register as a team of three or as an individual.  Teams that register together should be mixed (at least one male and one female should be on every team).  At this moment there is still space for eight more players, so sign up soon.

Who's Playing?

If you've signed up and want to see who your rival teams are, check this link or visit the 'teams' page above.

Tournament information

The tournament will have two phases.  First, every team will be randomly placed into a group of four teams. Every team will get three matches in their groups. In the second phase, every team will be entered into the double elimination tournament based on their performance in group phase.  That means everyone will get at least five matches.  The first group matches will start at 8am and we expect the championship match to get started at or before 1:30pm.