Glasgow 2014 has announced that the Commonwealth Games Netball Finals will be hosted at the SSE Hydro. This doubles the number of spectators who will have the opportunity to see the world's top Netball teams in action.
This decision followed a successful test to prove the Hydro's interior can be transformed overnight after the Games' Boxing finals. The intensive testing involved a team of 80 working to remove the boxing ring, floor seating and signage plus laying the netball floor, installing goal posts and reconfiguring the surroundings in a short space of time.
Rehearsals for medal ceremonies, athlete walkthrough and simulated mixed zones for media were also carried out.
The full turnaround will be complete for Netball medal matches starting at 1000 on Sunday 3 August. Both the Bronze medal and Gold medal Netball matches will now be played at the SSE Hydro with earlier matches in the competition remaining in the SECC Halls.
The Glasgow 2014 games - sponsored by SSE - is expected to generate packed stadia throughout the sport programme. Hosting the Netball Finals in the SSE Hydro will create additional ticketing opportunities.
The Finals take place on the closing day of the Games and be among the last medals to be awarded at Glasgow 2014.
The decision to relocate the Netball finals from the SECC to the Hydro was announced during the Chef de Missions Seminar – a briefing for team chiefs from all 70 competing Commonwealth nations and territories – which is taking place in Glasgow this week.
David Grevemberg, Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive, said: "The Commonwealth Games is a high point of the international Netball calendar and it is pleasing that the culmination of this world-class competition will be played out in front of an even larger crowd.
"Hosting the Finals at the SSE Hydro promises to deliver a fantastic atmosphere for the world's greatest Netball athletes in one of Europe's newest, most exciting venues.
"We have been rigorous in our testing of the transition time required between Boxing and Netball and we are confident, working with the International Netball Federation, of delivering an outstanding Finals day for our Commonwealth athletes in front of packed crowds."
View a video of the test on the official Commonwealth Games website.