"Every player heading to the Mangsan National Beach Volleyball Tournament carries a touch of delusion — the belief that they just might win."
The 22nd Dongteuneun Donghae Cup National Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball Tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday at a specially constructed venue on Mangsan Beach in Donghae.
About 1,000 players and officials representing 75 teams from across the country are expected to take part. Competitors will be divided into men's divisions (Mangsan and Mureung), women's divisions (Cheongok and Duta), and a mixed division (Deungdae), with matches progressing through a preliminary league, quarterfinals, semifinals and a final.
The Donghae City Sports Council, the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Volleyball Association and the Donghae City Volleyball Association are co-hosting and organizing the event.
At Mangsan Beach, visitors can find an inscription of a well-known line from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel "Thus Spoke Zarathustra": "There is always some madness in love."
Cheon Su-jeong, head of the sports and education division at Donghae City, said the tournament — set against the backdrop of Mangsan's white sand and blue sea — would offer residents and tourists an exciting summer beach experience while also helping to boost the local economy through a national-scale sporting event.
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