The 2 Star Rubavu World Tour that was set to be played 8th to 12th next month has been moved.
Following discussions between the Rwanda Volleyball Association, FRVB and the Volleyball World governing body, FIVB, the tour that was supposed to be played next month will not be played for reasons caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is not the first time the competition has been postponed, as it was scheduled to be held last summer but was moved to the end of the last year, though it was unlikely to be held because of the pandemic. They decided to move it to February this year. With less than a month to go before the games, there was no preparation for the event itself and local players in general due to the current state of prevention and enforcement of COVID-19 prevention measures.
On this Monday, 11th January 2021, the two related bodies, FRVB and FIVB held talks and the meeting found that there was very little chance that non-African teams would participate in the tournament if it took place on the scheduled date. The meeting found it necessary to postpone the competition to May or June 2021 so that participants can keep a close eye on the current Coronavirus situations and also allow enough time to prepare this high-level competition.
The FRVB management has been asked to inform FIVB of the new dates for the 2 Star Rubavu World Tour to take place during the mentioned months not later than Friday 15th January 2021.
Rwanda hosted this kind of tournament in 2019, The games held in Rubavu on the shores of Lake Kivu, but it was a star one where Japan’s Shoji and Kurasaka defeated England’s Javier and Joaquin at the semi-final stage to clinch a spot at the final. The Japanese faced a tough opponent in Denmark’s Overgaard and Jacob in a tightly contested match in which they came back to win 2-1 (12-21, 21-17, and 17-15) and claim gold.
In the lady’s competitions, The Netherlands’ Mexime and Iris won in the women’s final 2-0 (21-16, 23-21) over Denmark’s Signe and Cecile. Rwanda Emerged 4th for the ladies.
