Starting on Tuesday, 103 teams from 50 countries representing all five continental confederations will compete for the men's and women's titles of the 2024 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship in Shangluo, China. The 18^th edition of the tournament will be held until Sunday, with matches taking place at the Qinling Museum Square.

• Watch the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship live on Beach Volleyball World's YouTube channel

First held in 2002, the U19 World Championship has served as the launchpad for the international careers of many elite-level athletes over the years, including Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa of Brazil, who won three straight titles between 2013 and 2016, Laura Ludwig of Germany, who claimed gold in 2003, and Paris Olympic medalist Clemens Wicker, also of Germany, who was one of the winners in 2013.

Brazil are the most successful nation in the age group on the women’s side, having celebrated four titles, followed by Germany, with three. Among the men, Poland have the most victories, with four, followed by Brazil and Germany, with three each.

Among this year’s participants will be the reigning U18 European champions, Austrians Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer. The 17-year-olds appeared in the 2022 edition of the U19 World Championship and finished ninth.

One of two Brazilian teams in the women’s tournament, Julhia Furtado and Marcela Barbosa won the South American qualifier for the World Championship, held in May. The reigning Asian champions, Australians Jasmine Rayner and Cameron Zajer are also among the contenders.

FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship: match schedule

The men’s tournament will count on the reigning U18 European champions, Italians Matteo Iurisci and Laurin Zoeschg, who will start their campaigns in Shangluo in the qualifier.

Brazilians Juca Ribeiro and Gabriel Siqueira, who won the South American qualifier, and Iranians AmirAli GhalehNovi and Habib AkbarzadehKashani, who won the U19 Asian Championship earlier this year, begin in the main draw.

The tournament begins on Tuesday, with 23 men’s and 24 women’s teams in the qualifier – the four best in each gender will progress in the tournament. With them, the 32-team main draw begins on Wednesday and continues until Thursday.

The top three teams in each of the eight pools advance to the elimination rounds – the eight pool winners go directly to the Round of 16, while the teams that finished second and third play in the Round of 24. Both rounds will be held on Friday, with the quarterfinals and semifinals following on Saturday and the medal matches concluding the event on Sunday.

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FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship
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