World titles and two tickets to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be at stake, as 48 men’s and 48 women’s teams come together in the cities of Tlaxcala, Huamantla and Apizaco in Mexico for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships starting on Friday.
As the tournament makes its historic debut in Mexico and a return to Latin America for the first time in two decades, 96 teams from 40 countries will contest for the ultimate titles and the tickets to Paris 2024, reserved for the champions. A total of 216 matches are set to be played across the next ten days, with the world’s top teams battling for their share of the 1 million US dollars in prize money.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships make its historic debut in Mexico
Tournament format
During the first phase of the tournament, the teams will be split into 12 pools with four teams each and will play in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each pool and the best four teams that rank third in their respective pools will move directly to the Round of 32.
The remaining eight third-placed tandems will play a four-match lucky loser round to fill the last four spots in the elimination rounds. From the Round of 32 forward, the tournament continues on a single elimination format, with the Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches. All the medal matches will take place on the final day of competition, 15 October.
Beach Volleyball World Championships - Competition Formula
Star-studded field
Five of the six teams that stepped on the podium at the 2022 World Championship in Rome will be back in the 14th edition of the tournament. The competitor list also includes 14 past world champions.
Beach Volleyball World Championships - Past Winners
Men’s favourites
Reigning men’s champions and top seeds Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sorum of Norway will start their title defence on Friday against Mozambique’s bottom seeds Jorge Monjane and Ainadino Martinho who bagged silver at the African Nations Championship last year.
The Norwegian pair, who made a shock quarterfinals exit at EuroBeachVolley 2023 in August, will be looking to become the first men’s team to defend a world title. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions will be wary of the Dutch pair of Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot in Pool A. The latter teamed up with Leon Luini to eliminate them at the last eight stage of EuroBeachVolley 2023, where they eventually claimed silver medal.
Brazil’s George Souto in action during the Paris Elite 16 Beach Pro Tour
Fresh from winning their second consecutive European title in August, second seeds David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig from Sweden will be in search of their first world title in Tlaxcala. They start their campaign on Friday with a Pool B match against Ecuador’s 47th seeds Dany Leon and Marcos Jose.
Fourth seeds George Souto and Andre Loyola will hope to improve on their bronze medal performance from Rome last year. Compatriots and 2022 silver medallists Vitor Felipe and Renato Andrew will also carry Brazil’s hopes for gold from Pool L. Evandro Oliviera, the 2017 world champion, will team up with Arthur Diego in a bid to secure Brazil a record-extending eighth title.
Recently crowned Asian Games champions and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will be eyeing the podium after their Round of 16 exit in Rome last year. Czechia’s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, who won the Paris Elite 16 Beach Pro Tour stop last weekend, and USA’s third seeds Andy Benesh and Miles Partain are other strong candidates in the men’s tournament.
Beach Volleyball World Championships - Men's Entry List
Women’s favourites
All eyes will be on defending women’s champions Ana Patricia and Eduarda Santos from Brazil who are enjoying particularly strong form, having won four of their eight events on the Beach Pro Tour. Their latest triumph was the Paris Elite 16 Beach Pro Tour stop held last weekend. They start their campaign on Saturday with a Pool A match against Chile’s bottom seeds Maria Rivas Zapata and Chris Villablanca.
Brazil’s quest for a record-extending seventh title will also be anchored by sixth seeds and South American women champions Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado who are in Pool F.
Defending women’s champions Ana Patricia and Eduarda Santos from Brazil are enjoying strong form having won four of their eight events on the Beach Pro Tour
Tokyo 2020 champion Alexandra Klineman from the USA is making a return as a wild card just four months after giving birth and will team up with Hailey Harward in Pool K. USA will also bank on second seeds Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss and Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes to reclaim the title they last won in Stavanger, Norway in 2009.
Silver medalist in the 2022 edition, Brandie Wilkerson from Canada will team up with Melissa Humana-Paredes for this year’s edition as she looks to go one better in Mexico. EuroBeachVolley 2023 gold medalists Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner from Switzerland will hope to reach the podium following their Round of 16 exit last year.
Silver medalist in the 2022 edition, Brandie Wilkerson from Canada will team up with Melissa Humana-Paredes for this year’s edition as she looks to go one better in Mexico
Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medalists Mariafe Artacho Del Solar and Taliqua Clancy will also be out to atone for their quarterfinal exit in Rome 2022. Further, Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno from Spain will be hoping to replicate their EuroBeachVolley 2023 silver medal success on the global stage. The Spaniards are in a tricky Pool I alongside Asian champions and China’s ninth seeds Xue Chen and Xinyi Xia, USA’s sixth seeds Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft and Mexico’s Susana Torres and Ivanna Rivera.
Source : fivb.com
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