The Wimbledon Of Beach Volleyball Leads Into Summer Olympics
Known for decades as the “Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball” because of its status with the players , it will be at the Manhattan Beach pier and is an official Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) event.
This is the 57th annual Manhattan Open, making it the oldest beach volleyball tournament in the world. And for good reason – the modern game of beach volleyball was largely created on the sands of this Los Angeles beach community.
Plaques of winners are on the Manhattan Beach Pier, and a ceremony will be held prior to the tournament to unveil last year’s winners, Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena on the men’s side and April Ross and Jennifer Fopma on the women’s side.
This event features a sponsor village, a Manhattan Open legends tournament and something new, a movie night.
It begins with the qualification tournament on Thursday and proceeds to the main draw on Friday. The finals are Sunday at noon and 1:30 p.m. It will be telecast live on NBC from noon-1 p.m.
There will be grandstands with tickets for sale in some sections, including a VIP skybox.
Normally, the Manhattan Open takes place in mid-August, but the date is moved this year because the Summer Olympics in Rio are Aug. 5-21. Beach volleyball is, of course, one of the most popular events at the Summer Games. It is highly likely that several Olympians – Dalhausser and Kerri Walsh-Jennings among them, provided they qualify – will be playing in Manhattan.
The AVP is also in Southern California with a tournament in Huntington Beach from May 5-8. There is also one in San Francisco, at Pier 30/32 in the Embarcadero, June 23-26.
There is no tournament scheduled for Hermosa Beach, once a draw just as popular as Manhattan Beach among South Bay locals.
PubClub.com will be posting several more stories on the AVP Manhattan Open, including the bars and nightlife scene, the tournament’s colorful history and its impact on the culture of this beach volleyball-crazed area.
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