The women's under-20 world volleyball championship opens on Saturday, July 23, in Ankara and Istanbul with the participation of 12 national teams.

The championship marks the 13th edition this time, with the national teams of Brazil, the United States, Croatia, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro and Japan playing in Group A (Ankara).

Conversely, the national teams of Russia, Egypt, the Dominican Republic, Italy, China and Puerto Rico will competein Group B (Istanbul).

As expected, most of the players are the sport's fledgling stars in their country looking forward to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 world championships.

Games in the preliminary round will conclude on July 28, with the first two teams of each group qualifying for the semi-finals and finals, which are scheduled for July 30 and 31 in Ankara.

Additionally, the teams finishing in third and fourth place of their respective groups will continue playing in Istanbul for the fifth through eighth spots in the overall standings.

The teams finishing in the last two places of each group will be eliminated after the first round.

Editor: Donald