2023 in review: Magnificent Beach Pro Tour events held across the world

2023 saw another busy year for the Beach Pro Tour, with 51 events held across 27 different countries, so let us take a look back at some of the thrilling highlights.

The 2023 Beach Pro Tour, as of 5 November 2023, broadcast over 7,835 hours of thrilling action globally. This spectacular showcase of talent was brought to 195 territories worldwide through VBTV. Additionally, the tour achieved an impressive social media performance, generating a reach of 54.769 million fans across platforms.

The 2023 season started on 1 February with the Elite16 tournament in Doha, Qatar. Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands claimed the women’s gold, Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli took the silver and Australia’s Mariafe Artacho Del Solar and Taliqua Clancy snatched the bronze. On the men’s podium, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway grabbed the gold, followed by Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, and Italy’s Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri in silver and bronze respectively.

The next Elite16 event was held in Tepic, Mexico in March and offered another men’s final between the Norwegians and the Swedes. This time, Ahman and Hellvig of Sweden celebrated the victory over Mol and Sorum of Norway. The bronze went to Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler. USA’s Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, Brazil’s Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) and Ana Patricia Ramos, and Australia’s Mariafe and Clancy, in that order, lined up on the women’s podium.

David Ahman spikes past Anders Mol during the Tepic Elite16 final

Uberlandia, Brazil hosted the third Elite16 stop in April. Another American pair, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss (pictured in the main photo), took the women’s gold this time, while the Australians Mariafe and Clancy and the Brazilians Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) and Ana Patricia Ramos made the podium again, with silver and bronze, respectively. In the men’s tournament, Czechia’s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner celebrated their first Beach Pro Tour gold after defeating Mol and Sorum in the final. Poland’s Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak earned the bronze.

Ostrava, Czechia welcomed an Elite16 tournament in May and June. The world’s number one teams in both genders, Duda and Ana Patricia, and Mol and Sorum, grabbed the gold medals. USA’s Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil and Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson completed the women’s podium, while Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan and the USA’s Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh took the remaining men’s medals.

July’s Elite16 stop in Gstaad, Switzerland was won by Benesh and Partain, and Duda and Ana Patricia. The silver medals went to Mol and Sorum and to Cheng and Hughes, while Brazil’s Andre Stein and George Wanderley, and Nuss and Kloth earned bronze.

The Gstaad Elite16 women’s final between Duda and Ana Patricia, and Hughes and Cheng

Later in July, Montreal, Canada welcomed the beach volleyball elite. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson celebrated home gold after defeating the USA’s Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles in the women’s final, while China’s Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi claimed the bronze. Mol and Sorum, Benesh and Partain, and Carambula and Ranghieri occupied the men’s podium.

The next Elite16 event took place in August in Hamburg, Germany. Ahman and Hellvig emerged victorious from the men’s final against Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava, while Mol and Sorum claimed the bronze. Duda and Ana Patricia, Kloth and Nuss, and Muller and Tillmann lined up with the women’s medals.

The iconic Roland-Garros in Paris, France set the stage for an Elite16 tournament in September and October, just before the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico. Duda and Ana Patricia beat Kloth and Nuss in the women’s final again to take the gold. Schoon and Stam of the Netherlands celebrated the bronze. In the men’s competition, Perusic and Schweiner showed good form to secure the gold medal. Ehlers and Wickler snatched the silver, while the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen took the bronze.

Perusic and Schweiner triumph at the iconic Roland-Garros in Paris

For its last Elite16 stop of the season, the Beach Pro Tour travelled back to Brazil in late November. While Ahman and Hellvig took home the Joao Pessoa gold after defeating Nicolai and Cottafava in the final, another Dutch duo, Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot completed the men’s podium with bronze. Duda and Ana Patricia delighted the home crowd with the women’s trophy after beating fellow Brazilians Barbara Seixas and Carol Solberg to it in the final. Xue and Xia picked up the bronze.

In the Challenge events of 2023, Brazil collected the largest number of gold medals, securing top spot on the podium six times across the men’s and women’s tournaments. The USA came next with three golds across the Challenge tournaments, and Austria secured two titles. Spain, China, Italy, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Latvia all secured one win each.

Tournaments were held in iconic beach volleyball venues across the world, in Mexico, Brazil, Latvia, Portugal, Canada, India, China, Thailand and the Philippines.

Brazil’s Barbara and Carol won as many as three Challenge tournaments in 2023

In the Futures events of 2023, a total of 53 sets of medals were handed out. China collected the largest number of gold medals, picking up seven Futures trophies during the year - four for men and three for women. Italy came next with four men’s and two women’s gold medals, followed by Austria with three men’s and two women’s golds and Australia with one men’s and three women’s golds.

Germany, Norway, Spain and Switzerland claimed three Futures trophies each, while Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Ukraine and the USA earned two golds each. Duos from Belgium, Brazil, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and New Zealand also triumphed as Futures tournament winners.

With support from Volleyball Empowerment, Lithuania’s Ieva Vasiliauskaite and Erika Kliokmanaite won silver at the Satun Futures in Thailand (Photo credits: ltf.lt)

After nine Elite16, 10 Challenge and 31 Futures events, the second season of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour climaxed with December’s Finals in Doha, where the USA’s Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss and Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig triumphed as champions in the women’s and men’s competitions, respectively. Germany’s Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann and Brazil’s Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) and Ana Patricia Ramos finished second and third in the women’s final standings. On the men’s podium, reigning Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway had to settle for silver, while the bronze went to Brazil’s Andre Stein and George Wanderley.

All FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships 2023 results and standings