“This is the first year where we had more requests than places. We have a pretty tough field,” applauds Patrick Roland, coach of the Saintes Volley Club ladies. Place Bassompierre in Saintes, which has been transformed into a beach, is indeed preparing to host a stage…
“This is the first year where we had more requests than places. We have a pretty tough field,” applauds Patrick Roland, coach of the Saintes Volley Club ladies. Place Bassompierre in Saintes, which has been transformed into a beach, is in fact preparing to host a stage of the France Women’s Beach Volleyball national circuit, in series 1.
Twenty-six tandems are entered, including the ten best French pairs and international level players like Aline Chamereau (Lyon) and Clémence Vieira (Grenoble Volley Université Club), who have just qualified for the Paris Olympic Games. The Saintais tournament will also see the pair Anouk Dupin (Ré Beach) and Ophélie Lusson (Vésinet Saint-Germain) put their 2023 title back on the line. In good form, they won, Sunday June 9, the 4th stage of the French championship in the Island of Re,
An event presentation
The Vésinet Saint-Germain pair Agathe Rolland – Florine Gosselin will also return to Saintes to try to do better than their 3rd place last year while the Ré Beach duo Zewczyk – Duval, second in 2023, presents themselves “broken” but still between representatives of the island club: Pia Zewczyk will play with Alex Merle while Saofé Duval will team up with Marilu Pally.
This Friday, the ephemeral beach at Place Bassompierre will host the qualifying table in which 16 teams are involved. The 10 best will continue the tournament alongside the 6 already qualified. With a novelty, this Friday evening, at 7 p.m., the presentation of the teams to complete the event, which is held on Place Bassompierre, at the foot of the Arch of Germanicus, where it was necessary to deposit 400 tonnes of sand on a thickness of 40 cm to create the two terrains.
Practical
Qualifying matches this Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Presentation of the teams at 7 p.m. Saturday, main draw matches from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, quarter-finals at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.; semi-finals, at 11 a.m. and noon; small finale at 2 p.m., final at 3 p.m. Podium at 5 p.m.
