6th World Championship in Ringo - Newsletter #1

Created: Saturday, 12 November 2016

Dear,
International Ringo Federation,
World Tenniquoits Federation members,
Ringo and Ringtennis Sportsmen, Managers, Coaches, Amateurs,

Belarusian Ringo Federation is proud to host in 2018 Ringo and Ringtennis World Championship. Starting from today, I'm going to inform you about our preparations to R&R WC 2018.

Organizers
Hosted by Belarusian Ringo Federation in partnership with International Ringo Federation & World Tenniquoits Federation.

Dates
Within this newsletter we do not state exact dates, we are setting 2 month range during which tournament will take place. It is going to be July – August 2018 time frame.
Intention to choosing this period was the following: Republic of Belarus has rough continental climate. Our summer time is warm and hot with up to +30C. Winters can be cold and freeze below -20C. We want to hold tournament in warm summer period (July-August) and it will be more comfortable for participants than Winter. We can not delay declaration of final dates for long. That is why we are putting a dead line for Summer/Autumn 2017 to declare final dates of the tournament. Plan is to announce final dates as early as possible.

Disciplines and Sports
You may notice that R&R World Championship 2018 contains 2 sports: Ringo and Ringtennis. Belarus sportsmen traditionally played Ringo and joined WTF family in 2009 and honorably received opportunity to hold World Championship in Ringtennis in 2018. In order to have as many as possible participants we decided to combine 4th World Championship in Ringtennis and 6th World Championship in Ringo into 1 event.
According to WTF International Rules we will hold the following competitions:
1.    WTF Men/Women Singles in Ringennis;
2.    WTF Men/Women Doubles in Ringtennis;
3.    WTF Mixed Doubles in Ringtennis;
4.    WTF Team Championship in Ringtennis;
According to IRF International Rules we will hold the following competitions:
1.    IRF Men/Women Singles in Ringo;
2.    IRF Men/Women Doubles in Ringo;
3.    IRF Mixed Doubles in Ringo;
4.    IRF Team Championship in Ringo;
In addition we will arrange 1 day for sportsmen relax.
Generally World Championship in both sports is expected to finish within around 10 days (4 Ringtennis Days, 3 Ringo Days, 1 Relax Day, 1 Arrival Day and 1 Departure Day).

Participants
We expect as many as possible WTF and IRF members to participate in the WC 2018.

Sport hall
We are going to play in sport hall. Just may be some Ringo disciplines will be played outdoors. Belarusian weather is unpredictably rainy and we would not like rain to affect tournament schedule.

Location
We are working on the sport hall arrangements with needed capacity and nearby infrastructure to provide meals and accommodation. Within this newsletter we can not state the exact the city that will hold WC 2018. Just keep in mind that Belarus in not a huge country. Maximal distance from West to East is 650km, from North to South is 560km. Our capital Minsk city with International airport (MSQ code) is right in the center of the country. Host side will arrange all needed transfers for participants.

Transport
Official Country Name: Republic of Belarus (Latest Independency from USSR since 1991), ~10 million population
Capital: Minsk, ~2 million people
International Airport Code: MSQ (has direct connections with all major European, Turkish, Russian, Near East hubs)
In 150km from Minsk we have International EU Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania (International name: VNO). Belarus is well connected with neighbor countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine) with Railway and Car roads.

Visa
Belarus is Independent country and has its own visa. Belarus has wide network of embassies all over the world. List can be found at http://belarusfacts.by/belembassy/index_eng.html. Already many WTF and IRF members have visited Belarus and successfully obtained visas. We have great experience with visa assistance and hope majority of nations will be able to get free or group visas at low rate.

Participant Fee
It is not possible to define exact cost right now, but at the moment of final tournament dates announcement we will announce participants fee. We can ensure all participants that fee for WC 2018 in Belarus will not be higher than fees paid at previous R&R World Championships.

Tournament Features
We would like to organize the following new features at WC 2018 in Minsk:
1.    Live Video Streaming of Tournament in Internet;
2.    International volunteers crew (not only from Belarus);
Visit Belarus in 2017
We are inviting players/coaches/managers to visit Belarus in November 2017 may be with small delegation, just one year before R&R WC 2018. We would like to introduce Belarus to you. Traditionally in November Belarusian Ringo Federation holds biggest in the country Ringo and Ringtennis tournament. Please feel free to contact us for visiting Belarus in 2017 (even within dates different to November).

Please share this newsletter with all Ringo and Ringtennis Amateurs in order to keep in touch on big event that will happen in Belarus in 2018!

Best Regards,
Secretary General,
International Ringo Federation,
World Tenniquoits Federation,
Andrei Konan.