The highest ranked Austrian men’s pair have announced the end of their partnership. Robin Seidl & Moritz Pristauz will no longer compete together as a team, as they announced in a press release and social media posts.

Seidl & Pristauz joined forces in February 2023 hoping to create a duo strong enough to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. However, they failed to achieve that goal, falling just two spots below the cut-off in the Olympic ranking. During their time together, they picked up three Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour medals, all in 2023 – a La Paz Challenge bronze upon their debut as a pair, a Goa Challenge gold and a Nuvali Challenge gold. They also conquered the national championship title in Austria. The pair reached as high up as number 21 in the FIVB World Ranking. Currently, they are number 25.

“On one hand, we celebrated many achievements, so the joy outweighs everything. On the other, it's a shame that we didn't manage to qualify for the Olympics, our big goal. I think that now is a good time to start a new project and take a new path,” said 28-year-old Pristauz.

“I am looking forward to what's to come. This will be a step towards agility, optimization and focus on Los Angeles 2028. I am really curious to see how it turns out,” 34-year-old Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympian Seidl added.

Seidl & Pristauz last appeared together on the Beach Pro Tour in early May at the Brasilia Elite16.

Now they are ready to devote themselves to new projects. If it could be in any way an indication as to who their next partners might be, in mid-June Pristauz appeared in a tandem with 20-year-old Timo Hammarberg as part of the national team at the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals in Jurmala, Europe’s continental qualifier for Paris 2024, where Austria stopped just short of qualifying a pair after losing to France in the deciding tie. In mid-July, Seidl took part in the Vienna Elite16 along with 24-year-old Laurenz Leitner.

However, after that, they have both been out, recovering from injuries. Pristauz has recently been able to do without crutches after his knee surgery. Things are also going well for Seidl, and he could return to the Beach Pro Tour later this year.

Seidl’s international career began in 2009, when he started playing on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour with Alexander Huber. Seidl & Huber’s first World Tour medal was a 2013 Fuzhou Open bronze. Eventually they qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics, where they finished with a ninth place. After Rio, Seidl went through several partners - Tobias Winter, Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller – and brought up his overall World Tour record to two golds, a silver and a bronze. In 2022, Seidl & Waller picked up a Baden Futures silver and a Cape Town Elite16 fourth place as their best results on the Beach Pro Tour, and reached number five in the World Ranking. After their appearance at the Doha Elite16 in February 2023, they split up and Seidl teamed up with Pristauz.

“The time spent with Mo was very cool and pleasant, but also quite intense, because we had to qualify for the Olympics. We celebrated many successes, but also had to accept some defeats,” Seidl stated. “Mo taught me not to always have to go my own way, to let go and trust the process and the performance. We always communicated well, worked hard and put everything we had into it. It's a shame that we missed our goal by two spots. Nevertheless, it was a cool experience. I made a new friend in Mo.”

Early into his career, Pristauz earned several medals at age-group continental championships before teaming up with Martin Ermacora, with whom he claimed a 2019 CEV European Championship bronze and a Quinzhou 3-star silver on the 2019 World Tour. On the 2022 Beach Pro Tour, Pristauz & Ermacora picked up two Challenge medals, an Espinho silver and a Doha bronze, before going their separate ways and Pristauz joining forces with Seidl.

“The partnership with Robin was very cool,” said Pristauz. “We learned a lot from each other. I always appreciated the honest communication between us. We always knew where we stood with each other. That's how we managed to move the team forward. That was certainly a key to our achievements. I look back with both a smile and a tear in my eye. I would like to thank Robin for the great time and the many successes. The many trips we made all over the world were always a great time.

“I wish Robin all the best and am already looking forward to the future. I believe there will be exciting projects and I am looking forward to going in full strength again next year after my rehab.”

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