Olympic qualification the focus at three-week Cancun Hub

The qualification process for the beach volleyball tournament at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will reach a critical point over the next 18 days as the elite of the sport is gathered in Cancun, Mexico, for three consecutive FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events that will have a key impact on the provisional Olympic rankings.

Scheduled to take place from April 16-20, April 22-26 and April 28-May 2, the three 4-star Cancun Hub tournaments will help to clarify which teams are likely to end the qualification period for the Olympics, on June 13, inside the top-15, and earn a berth for their country at the Games.

The 126 teams (65 men’s and 61 women’s) from 37 countries entered in the first tournament will all have their own goals and aspirations, from top-seeded and virtually-qualified Anders Mol/Christian Sorum of Norway and April Ross/Alix Klineman of the United States, to the lowest-seeded duos in the qualification tournament, who may be preparing for the Continental Cup, another potential path to the Games.

Action will start early for one of the teams involved in the Olympic qualification race. Currently occupying eighth position in the provisional Olympic rankings, but not holding a berth due to the limitation of two spots per country, Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes will compete in an American country quota decider against Sara Hughes/Emily Day and Kelly Reeves/Terese Cannon on Thursday.

Sponcil and Claes currently have 6,720 Olympic points, but are ranked behind both Ross/Klineman (9,080) and Kerri Walsh Jennings/Brooke Sweat (6,960) in the race to qualify for Tokyo. Those two other teams are guaranteed a place in the main draw, as are Kelley Kolinske/Emily Stockman (6,320), so advancing from the country quota and the qualifier will be important for Sponcil and Claes.

Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar are in a less complicated position. The 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship bronze medallists missed some tournaments later that year, and have only ten of the 12 results they need to be eligible to qualify via the Olympic rankings.  

Clancy and Artacho, who won the most recent World Tour event played in Mexico, the 2019 Chetumal Open, already have 5,960 points to their names, however. Just by appearing in two of the three Cancun events they will add another 480 to their total and should, at the very least, secure a spot in the top-ten of the Olympic rankings.

Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi are in a similar situation in the men's competition. With 11 appearances in Olympic qualification events so far, they are below the line right now with 4,860 points, but strong results in Mexico could help them climb the ranking. The last qualification berth via the provisonal Olympic ranking is currently held by Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson who are on 5,720 points.

Tournament format

The three events held at the Grand Oasis Cancun Resort will add up to total prize money of US$900,000. Each event will be played over the course of six days, with the first two reserved for country quotas matches and qualification tournaments ahead of the 32-main draw tournaments in each gender. The men’s and women’s gold medal matches are scheduled to take place on April 20, April 26 and May 2.

All the action will be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel. Subscribe, log in and set reminders to receive notifications when streams begin.

Previous events in Mexico

Located in the state of Quintana Roo, Cancun is the fifth Mexican city to host a World Tour event, joining state capital Chetumal, Acapulco and Rosarito. Several of the players entered to compete in the three upcoming events have already won World Tour gold medals in the country.

The men’s list includes Americans Jake Gibb (Acapulco 2006 and Chetumal 2019), Taylor Crabb (Chetumal 2019), Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena (Puerto Vallarta 2016) and Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins (Puerto Vallarta 2014).

Among the women, past winners include American Walsh Jennings (Acapulco 2006), Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas (Puerto Vallarta 2014), German Laura Ludwig (Puerto Vallarta 2016), Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson (Chetumal 2018) and Australians Clancy and Artacho (Chetumal 2019).

Go to:
Cancun Hub - 1st event
Cancun Hub - 1st event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women

Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
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