Close. So close. This year, England’s precocious brotherly duo, Joaquin and Javier Bello, have narrowly missed out in qualifiers in Cancun – 14-16 in the third to Estonia’s Kusti Nolvak and Mart Tiisaar – Cancun again – 14-16 in the third to Austria’s Martin Ermacora and Moitz Pristauz-Telsnigg – Cancun once more – 12-15 in the third to Italy’s Andrea Abbiati and Tiziano Andreatta – and Bulgaria. That’s a run that could break a team.
It didn’t break the Bellos.
For the first time all year, the 20-year-old Bellos were seeded directly into the main draw, No. 5 at the Leuven one-star. On day one, they made good on that gift, taking just 33 minutes to beat one of five Belgian teams in the main draw, Thibault Goset and Louis Laenen, 21-8, 21-18. On Saturday morning, they’ll see Germans Simon Kulzer and Dirk Westphal to win Pool D and get a bye into the quarterfinals.
“It feels great to be in the main draw again,” said Joaquin Bello, who is the blocker of the two. “We’ve had some real tough times in the qualifiers this year. It’s a good chance to prove that we belong and hopefully we can be fighting for the medals on Sunday.”
Their last medal came in 2019, a bronze at the Rubavu one-star.
The Bellos are joined at the top of their pools by the home favourites, Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle, the Czech Republic’s Gilip Habr and David Lenc, Austria’s Florian Ertl and Johannes Kratz, France’s Tom Altweis and Arnaud Loiseau, Slovenia’s Crtomir Bosnjak and Danijel Pokersnik, Monaco’s Pascal Ferry and Vincent Ferry, and Kulzer and Westphal. All eight of those teams won their first match and are safely out of pool.
The women, meanwhile, moved much further than the men, with all four pools finishing on Friday. Spain’s Sofia Gonzalez and Ana Vergara are making good on their lucky loser breakthrough into the main draw. After losing in the final round of Thursday’s qualifier to Americans Zana Muno and Crissy Jones, Gonzalez and Vergara won the lucky loser spot in the main draw, and won both matches in straight sets on Friday, earning a bye into the quarterfinals.
Muno and Jones, too, emerged from the qualifier to win pool, beating Austria and Belgium in straight sets.
The only women’s team to hold their seed in pool is second-seeded Austria’s Franziska Friedl and Eva Pfeffer, who swept Belgium’s Fleur Baens and Birthe Wittock and Switzerland’s Mara Betschart and Annik Stahli.
Pool C, meanwhile, was a dream for the hosts, as Belgium’s own, fourteenth-seeded Maud Catry and Els Vandesteene, won a pair of tight matches over Iceland and Germany to claim the top spot, moving onto Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Saturday will be a light day for the women, and a heavy one for the men, some of whom will play three matches. As for the Bellos, they’re hoping only two are necessary: one more in pool, a pleasant first-round bye, and a quarterfinal.
“We had a lot of confidence today,” Javier Bello said. “That helped us make good decisions. We made very few errors and Joaquin did a great job at the net. The venue is really cool in the middle of a main square and there’s a good atmosphere in the centre court. The city is also really beautiful and one of the best locations on tour this year.”
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Leuven
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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