W18 European Open 2012 – Gothenburg, Sweden

The 8th European Open Championship will take place from Monday 2 July to Friday 6 July in Gothenburg, Sweden.

14 teams of women born 1994 or later will compete over 43 games for the honours in the Liseberghallen, Valhalla Sporthallar (A) and Scandinavium playing halls:

RUS, NOR, SWE, ROU, GER, CZE, AUT, POL (out of ranking at W17 2011 – CZE)
ISL, LTU, SUI, FIN (out of the ranking gained in qualification tournaments)
BEL, ITA (registered individually)

The Liseberghallen has capacity for 2,000 spectators, the Valhalla Sporthallar (A) 700 and the Scandinavium has capacity for 6,000 fans.

A total of 43 matches will be played, starting with the Preliminary Round which will consist of four groups

The final ranking in each group after the Preliminary Round is the ranking basis for the Main Round and Challenge Round.

Preliminary Round

Group A: RUS, POL, SUI
Group B: NOR, AUT, FIN
Group C: SWE, CZE, LTU, BEL
Group D: ROU, GER, ISL, ITA

Matches will take place on Monday 2 July and Tuesday 3 July.

The top two teams go through to the Main Round, whilst the bottom two teams go through to the Challenge Round.

Main Round and Challenge Round

Matches will take place on Wednesday 4 July and Thursday 5 July.

Final Phase: Placement Matches and Finals

Matches will take place on Friday 6 July with the W18 European Open 2012 Final throwing off at 20:00 hrs (local time) at the Scandinavium.

For the Final Phase games only, if there is still a tie in the match at the end of extra time, the match will be decided by playing the ‘Shoot-Out’ competition. For more information about the 'Shoot-Out’ competition rule click HERE.

The Opening Ceremony will take place on 3 July at the Scandinavium.

The nominations for the Young Referee couples will be announced at a later date.