U-21 Men’s Pan Am Cup to begin in Panama

PANAMA CITY, Panama, June 21, 2011 -  The First U-21 Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup is set to begin on Wednesday at Roberto Duran Arena of Panama City with the participation of eight countries from the Americas.

The event is organized by the Panamanian Volleyball Federation and the Panamanian Sport Institute with the financial support of the Municipality of Panama City. The Pan American Union supervise de competition.

Pool A of the competition consists of teams from Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela while teams of Canada, Chile, Mexico and Puerto Rico will play in Pool B.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to start at 19:30 (local time) followed by the match between Honduras and hosts Panama.

The first match on Wednesday at 14:00 features Canada vs Chile followed by the contest between Venezuela and Dominican Republic at 16:00 and then continuing with the match Puerto Rico vs. Mexico at 18:00.

The winners of each pool will advance directly to the semifinal phase with teams placed second and third in each pool playing crossed matches in the quarterfinals matches scheduled for Saturday with the semifinals and medal matches to be held on Sunday and Monday.

The hosts Panama have been playing scrimmage matches with teams from Chile and Honduras who made early arrivals in preparation for the inaugural tournament.