Indonesia's Batam City kicked off the first Batam Beach Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday, with some top players from 12 Asia Pacific countries taking part in, the Jakarta Post reported.

Twenty three men's team and 16 women's team from powerhouse countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Japan, India and China are ready to compete in the event that has been endorsed by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).

"We have been preparing for this event for about a year and it has been quite a struggle to get this event off the ground. We first got approval from the National Sports Council and later also got approval from the AVC and this very first event in Batam finally included in the Asian Circuit,"tournament chairman Djoko Pramono said on Tuesday.

The tournament which runs from April 21-24 will be played at night.