Arthur Canet & Téo Rotar are driven French athletes who have achieved a lot in their young careers. With their determination to excel in the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship, they are sure to achieve wonderful things in their future.
Beach U21 World Champs 2023
Canet & Rotar: Driven for excellence
The French duo is poised and highly motivated to perform, and seize the wins that they are looking for
Published 05:49, 10 Nov 2023
“We have been working together as partners for a long time and we have been motivated to perform very early in our careers. We started beach volleyball at 14 years old, so even if we are still young, we have a lot of experience together. And we want to beat the best teams, that has always been our first motivation,” said 19-year-old Rotar.
On Friday, they concluded pool play on top with their third straight win, beating Gambia’s Mario Dampha and Laity Nyabally 2-0 (21-16, 21-6).
“It’s an important victory because it is our third to finish first in our pool. It’s good for us because we don’t play another match today and we are through to the Round of 16. We hope this is just the start of something good in the competition,” Canet said.
“This was our last pool match, so we needed to be first in the pool. It was a good game for us, we won 2-0, so we are happy to finish first,” Rotar added.
Coming into the competition as the top-ranked pair, the pair felt unpressured to perform well at the start of the main draw.
“We don’t have pressure about this, instead we must play really free to have a lot of level inside the court. And that is why we don’t try to stress about anything. We are here for two weeks in Thailand, so if that doesn’t work today, it’s going to work next week. So, it’s cool,” the 18-year-old Canet explained.
As they are backed with great performances in the last three years by winning world and continental titles in age-group competitions and capturing two Beach Pro Tour gold medals, the young French pair is not in a rush and are just aiming to be at their best form in the future. But likewise, a run to making it to the Paris 2024 Olympics is not out of the question for these two.
“It’s sure that if we can perform well, we have a chance to go to the Games. But it’s not all about that. There is a lot of possibility in France. So, we will play and perform first and after that we will see if it’s possible or not,” Canet said.
“It was impossible for us last year because we are not in the ranking, but today we can pose our question about whether we can go or not. We do not know yet and we will wait if this is possible. It depends on our performance, there are many other possibilities, so we will see.”
“Our goal is to progress in the ranking first because now we are in the 30s in the world. We will try our best to play and perform well. And after we go up in the rankings, maybe seek a wild card. We will see the possibilities because it’s in eight months, so we have time and we’re going to fight again,” Rotar added.