AIBA Moves 2019 Men's World Championships -- Federation Focus

(ATR) AIBA confirms the 2019 Men’s World Championships is being moved from Sochi to Yekaterinburg at the request of the Russian Boxing Federation.

The International Boxing Association tells Around the Rings it agreed to the relocation of the tournament because of the support from authorities in Yekaterinburg and the popularity of boxing in the Sverdlovsk region.

The event, originally awarded to Sochi in July 2017, is scheduled to run from September 7 to 21.

Yekaterinburg is located east of the Ural Mountains in the Asian side of Russia, about 1,420 kilometers (880 miles) east of Moscow.

The women’s tournament is also to be held in Russia. It will run from October 3 to 13 in Ulan Ude in eastern Siberia.

FIS Readies for Dueling World Championships

The highlight of this skiing and snowboarding season is at hand on two separate continents.

The FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships begins on Friday in and around Park City, Utah and runs through February 10. On the following Tuesday, the first event of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships gets underway in Åre, Sweden. The Alpine championships will end on February 17.

There are three additions to the schedule for this year’s FIS World Championships in Utah. Two are mixed team events with aerials and snowboard cross while the third is a big air competition that will now include free skiers as well as snowboarders showing their acrobatic skills. All three events will make their debuts on the program of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

In Åre, the opening ceremony will be held on Monday before the competition begins the following day, with world champions to be crowned in downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, alpine combined and the alpine team event.

FIVB Names Hosts for Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournaments

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) on Wednesday confirmed 11 of the 12 hosts of the FIVB Volleyball Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournaments to be held in August.

The women's tournaments will be played from August 2 to 4 and be followed by the men's tournaments from August 9 to 11. Only the women’s Pool C, featuring the USA, Argentina, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, is still without a host.

Women's tournaments - August 2-4:

Pool A: Hosts are Poland

Teams in pool: Serbia, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Poland

Pool B: Hosts are China

Teams in pool: China, Turkey, Germany, Czech Republic

Pool C: Hosts TBC*

Teams in pool: USA, Argentina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan

Pool D: Hosts are Brazil**

Teams in pool: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cameroon, Azerbaijan

Pool E: Hosts are Russia

Teams in pool: Russia, Korea, Canada, Mexico

Pool F: Hosts are Italy

Teams in pool: Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Kenya

Men's tournaments - August 9-11:

Pool A: Hosts are Bulgaria

Teams in pool: Brazil, Egypt, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico

Pool B: Hosts are Netherlands

Teams in pool: USA, Belgium, Netherlands, Korea

Pool C: Hosts are Italy

Teams in pool: Italy, Serbia, Australia, Cameroon

Pool D: Hosts are Poland

Teams in pool: Poland, France, Slovenia, Tunisia

Pool E: Hosts are Russia

Teams in pool: Russia, Iran, Cuba, Mexico

Pool F: Hosts are China

Teams in pool: Canada, Argentina, Finland, China

The pools will be played in single round-robin format with the pool winners joining hosts Japan in the volleyball competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Olympic qualification process will continue in January 2020 with each of the five continental confederations organizing its own Olympic qualification tournament to advance one team each per gender to Tokyo 2020.

Written by Gerard Farek

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