RIYADH — Fourteen teams will compete in the qualifying rounds for the first Saudi Open Volleyball Tournament for Women that will kick off on Thursday. Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province will host the zonal qualifying matches between Aug. 5 and 21. Six teams will compete in the final round of the championship, which will start at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh on Sept. 9. There will be four teams from Riyadh zone, seven from Jeddah and three from the Eastern Province in the qualifying rounds. Two teams will qualify from each zone to the final round. The zonal qualifying matches will start first in Riyadh and the teams Azurite, Phoenix, Elite, and Link will participate. The teams in Jeddah are Blue Jays, Blue Jays 2, Blue Clickers, Ocean, Flamingo KSA, Jeddah Technology and Swift will take part in the qualifiers. The qualifying round in the Eastern Province with the participation of teams namely Al Ettifaq Club, Al Ettifaq Academy, and the Eastern Summits will follow the Jeddah zonals. Hanan Al-Qahtani, member of the Board of Saudi Volleyball Federation, expressed her happiness over the turnout and the passion of the teams to participate in the Kingdom’s first ever women’s volleyball championship. “This tournament will mark the beginning of the breakthrough towards forming a large and strong base for women’s volleyball in the Kingdom, and emerging the national team, which in turn will take part in the international matches outside the Kingdom,” she added.