The final tournament of 2021 is ready to start and it is going to be an interesting one for many reasons. The most eye catching is the many new partnerships making their international debuts in Brazil. More importantly, it is the final opportunity to improve rankings before the new Beach Pro Tour starts next year. The top tier of the new tour is limited to 16 teams without a qualifier, so getting into or as close as possible to the top 16 could have a huge impact on teams in the future.
Setting the stage for the Beach Pro Tour
As always, the off season brings partner changes and after a three-year long push for Olympic qualification, this year’s international shakeup is even bigger. With the new tour’s Elite division only taking the top 16 teams, finding a partner with sufficient ranking points takes on greater importance. In some countries that is impossible. When a partner retires or teams decide to split up for other reasons, it sends players tumbling down the entry rankings and the new pair have to build up from the bottom.
Brazil can spread the wealth
In a country like Brazil, there are plenty of points to go around. They can slice and dice their teams and still take all the top seeds. Of Brazil’s top teams, only Andre and George will remain together. They were well within the Tokyo rankings, but missed out on becoming Olympians because they were the third ranked Brazilian team. Evandro is joining Alvaro in the push for Tokyo and Guto gets to play with Alison. Those three teams are the top seeds in Itapema and if they dominate the podium they should have all three teams in the Elite division from day one.
On the women’s side it is even more impressive. The fourth ranked team in the tournament, Carol and Barbara have to start in the County Quota. This will be Agatha and Duda’s last tournament together after a very impressive partnership. Don’t feel too bad for Duda though. She is rejoining her youth partner Ana Patricia next year and will be among the world’s top teams from the very start. Ana Patricia’s partner from Tokyo, Rebecca is playing with Talita the fifth most winning player in the history of FIVB women’s beach volleyball. And Brazil has about a million other top players that have won multiple youth world championships and FIVB gold medals.
Welcome to the beach Taylor
America is another country that has plenty of depth, but when Jake Gibb stepped away from the sand this summer, Taylor Crabb decided to take a pretty big risk. Instead of pairing up with someone with plenty of points to keep their seeding high, he is joining beach new comer Taylor Sander. I personally love this move. There is no doubt it is a huge risk, but the potential upside is even bigger. Many people were surprised Sander would leave his lucrative indoor career for the uncertainties of the sand, but his risk taking was immediately rewarded by a partnership with America’s best defender. There are a lot of top teams absent in Itapema, so the two Taylors snuck into the main draw with the final place. That may be a pretty good omen for this new partnership. For more background on Taylor Sander, check out this recent article by the FIVB.
This will take some getting used to
Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai played together 93 times on the world tour. When Daniele takes the sand with Alex Ranghieri it will come as a bit of shock to fans. Alex played in the 2016 Olympics with Adrian Carambula and I expect the new team to start strong.
If 93 tournaments seems like a lot, how about the 123 times that Adrian Gavira & Pablo Herrera played together for Spain. In Brazil Gavira will play with Alejandro Huerta. This isn’t a permanent arrangement though, as Herrera is recovering from an injury but the long term partners plan to stay together.
Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Slukova partnered 51 times before Marketa decided to hit the pause button on beach volleyball competition. Hermannova will play with 22-year-old Marie-Sara Stochlova in Brazil this week. The two played together in last summer’s European championship and took 9th.
Taking advantage of the offseason
For most teams the off season started months ago, but for those that traveled to Itapema this could be a very important weekend. Theo Brunner & Chaim Schalk want to establish themselves as the top team in a post Phil Dalhausser and Jake Gibb American system. They have a chance to prove they belong at the top this week.
Young players to watch
I highlighted David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig and Raisa Schoon & Katja Stam as teams to watch in September of 2020. They blew up far beyond what I expected with the young Dutch women making the Olympics after a thrilling Continental Cup and the Swedes wowing the world every time they took the sand with their exciting style. They are playing in Itapema but are well known, so it is time to highlight some other players.
The most exciting team at the European Continental Cup may have been Norway. They played with grit and heart and pushed The Netherlands to the brink in the semifinals. Sunniva Helland-Hansen & Emilie Olimstad were both on the Norway team, but they weren’t partners at that tournament. They are playing together in Brazil this week and I can’t wait to see how they do. They could be a serious part of the Paris conversation in 2024.
Another player that American’s know very well is Megan Kraft. Last year she played at USC and partnered with Tina Graudina on the National Championship winning team. This is just her third international tournament and she will play with Kim Hildreth. They made it through a tough country quota tournament in California a few weeks ago to book their place in Brazil and look to go from strength to strength.
Anna-Lena Grune & Sarah Schulz are another team I am very excited about. Grune caught my attention in the German Championships two summers ago when she played with Kira Walkenhorst and carried her legendary partner through a match. She is a fiery competitor with the skills to match her energy. Last September she and Schulz had a lot of success in smaller FIVB events. They won gold and silver in the two tournaments they’ve played together. Get used to seeing both these ladies for years to come. Grune is 20 years old and Schulz is 22.
Play the Pick’em Game
If you think you’ve got a better idea of how well teams are going to do in Ipatema, sign up for the Beach Pick’em game. You can sign up any time before the main draw starts, I think you’ll like it. Follow this link to signup.