Beach volleyball players and fans will have a small taste of what's to come for the sport at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics this week, when for the first time a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event will be held in the United States, the host country of the next Games.

Scheduled to take place between Tuesday and Saturday, the tenth Elite event of the 2025 season will be held in Newport Beach, located near Los Angeles and just over 20 miles south of Alamitos Beach, where the beach volleyball Olympic venue for the 2028 Games will be built.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite live on VBTV

The possibility of playing an international event in Southern California for the first time since 2018, when a FIVB World Tour tournament was held in Huntington Beach, has attracted teams from all over the world, setting up a strong and exciting field for this week's event. With the FIVB World Championship approaching in just over a month, the top teams in the world also enter this week's tournament looking to reach the peak of their games.

Reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig lead the pack on the men's side. Away from the podium since they won the Ostrava Elite, back in June, the Swedish jump-setters will be determined to win their third medal in the season as they prepare for the World Championship. Their form is somewhat opposite to that of their compatriots Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, who won medals in three of their last five events.

Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite - Men's Entry List

In great form after their recent victory at the Rio de Janeiro Elite two weeks ago, Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will also be among the favorites this week in Newport Beach. The Qataris have missed a portion of the season due to injuries, but have been extremely competitive when they have gotten to play, winning three golds in only five tournaments played in 2025.

Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci, who are fresh from a victory in front of their home fans at the João Pessoa Elite last month, and German Olympic medalists Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers, who seem to be returning to their usual level after somewhat of a slow start to the season, are two more candidates for a podium appearance in the United States.

The home country will also be strongly represented in the main draw, with four teams entered - the Olympic duos of Andy Benesh/Miles Partain and Miles Evans/Chase Budinger, Chaim Schalk/James Shaw and the Crabb brothers Taylor and Trevor, who will play together internationally for the first time since 2016.

Also starting the tournament in the main draw will be Latvia's Martins Plavins/Kristians Fokerots, Australia's Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher and Norway's Hendrik Mol/Mathias Berntsen.

Americans and Brazilians dominate the women's event

On the women's side, it's likely that the Newport Beach Elite brings back the feelings of the original beach volleyball tournaments, which were dominated by teams from the United States and Brazil, as the host country and their South American rivals account for nine of the 12 duos guaranteed in the main draw.

Representing the United States will be Taryn Brasher/Kristen Nuss, Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft, Kelly Cheng/Molly Shaw, Julia Donlin/Lexy Denaburg and Sara Hughes/Ally Battenhorst. The debut of Hughes, a world champion, and Battenhorst, a volleyball player who recently transitioned to the sand, will be one of the storylines to follow in the event. The two were granted a wildcard, which allowed Battenhorst to play her first-ever international tournament and Hughes to return to action for the first time since last year's Paris Olympics.

Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite - Women's Entry List

For Brazil, the four teams guaranteed to start in the main draw are Thamela Coradello/Victoria Lopes, Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa/Ana Patrícia Ramos, Carol Salgado/Rebecca Cavalcanti and Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima.

Taking up the three remaining main draw spots in Newport Beach are Germany's Louisa Lippmann/Linda Bock and Sandra Ittlinger/Anna-Lena Grüne and Austria's Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger.

Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite - Match Schedule

The tournament will begin for teams in both genders on Tuesday, when the qualifier will be held - 12 men's and 12 women's duos will play for four spots. The main draw starts on Wednesday and will have two days of pool play. The Round of 12 and the quarterfinals are scheduled for Friday, while the semifinals and medal matches happen on Saturday.

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