Brazil’s Bruno Marques juggles between beach and indoor volleyball

Bruno Romano Cosendey Marques has seen it all in 2025! From the pristine courts of Tashkent, Uzbeksitan where he represented Brazil at the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ Under 19 World Championship to the hot and humid conditions of Doha, Qatar where he once again part of Brazil’s boys’ team at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Under 18 World Championship, it’s been a busy summer for Bruno.

It’s unfortunate that both tournaments didn’t yield quite the results the 17-year-old Bruno had expected, as Brazil were eliminated by eventual champions France in the Round of 16 in Tashkent while on Friday, the Dutch pair of Sven van Groenestein & Mees Huisman sent them packing in the Round of 24 following a 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 13-15) narrow loss.

Yet the disappointment of not medaling at the two events, at least by Brazil’s lofty volleyball and beach volleyball standards, is not putting Bruno down.

“It wasn’t what we expected but it happens. This is the nature of volleyball, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. We just have to take it in our stride and pick the lessons, hopefully we can do better in future tournaments,” said Bruno, who only celebrated his 17^th birthday on 5 October while enroute to Qatar.

This was the first official competition that Bruno and his new partner George Henrique Sabeh Isernhagen were playing together as a team. Despite their early exit, Bruno and George had some positives to take home notably the four wins they strung together from the qualification phase and the Main Draw. A second-place finish in Pool C, which was widely considered the Group of Death, earned them a place in the Round of 24 where the Netherlands stopped them in their tracks.

“It was amazing playing alongside George because we complement each other so well on the court. He is a good blocker and I’m good at defending which makes it so easy to coordinate every time that we are on court. We only trained together for a few weeks but our chemistry was so good,” explained Bruno, the third born in a family of four. “I’d like to play with him again in future but for now I just want to go home, rest then prepare for the new season. It’s been a busy summer for sure.”

His summer exploits in Tashkent and Doha have left him in a crossroads of sorts regarding his future. While he enjoys beach volleyball more, Bruno sees himself as a professional indoor volleyball player just like his role models Gilberto Amauri de Godoy Filho ‘Giba’ of Brazil, Earvin N'Gapeth of France and Torey James DeFalco of USA.

“My number one is indoor because my dream is to become a professional volleyball player. I was a setter and libero before but this year I made the transition to outside hitter. I love it because I have more responsibility on the court and can do like everything. I’ve been in the junior national teams since 2023 and played at two indoor Word Championships (U17 and U19) so I believe I’m on the right track,” said Bruno, who plays his club volleyball for Flamengo in Brazil.

As far as beach volleyball is concerned, he doesn’t need to look far for inspiration as his father, Guilherme Luiz Marques, is a former world champion (Los Angeles 1997) and Olympic Games bronze medalist (Barcelona 1992).

“I enjoy beach volleyball because I get to have more touches on the ball and express myself. My father is a big inspiration to me…he was my first coach, my hero and role model. I’ve watched some videos of him play and he was a great player. He was a World Champion at some point so I’d definitely like to emulate him,” said Bruno amid a grin.

“They are two different sports but it’s all volleyball, it’s what I love doing. Nowadays I prefer beach volleyball but I have a big love for the (indoor) court. My dream is to become a professional volleyball player whether in beach or indoor. I just want to keep playing this sport that I love at the highest level,” added the 188cm outside hitter.