South American nations battle for beach Olympic tickets this week in João Pessoa

South America is set to become the next continent to determine its first representatives at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games as the top teams in the region will battle for a pair of spots - one in each gender - this week in João Pessoa, Brazil.

The continent's Olympic Qualifier will go for four days, between Thursday and Sunday, with the winners joining hosts the United States and the nations qualified in Europe - the Netherlands on the women's side and Sweden among the men - and Africa - Nigerian women and Moroccan men - among the ones already guaranteed at the LA 2028 Games. The Asian qualifier is also being held this week in Shangluo, China.

Nine South American countries - hosts Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela - will make a push to qualify this week, with the event featuring 16 teams in each gender.

The duos were split into four pools and will have two days of pool play action to determine which ones move forward to the elimination rounds - pool winners advance directly to the quarterfinals while teams ranked second and third play in the Round of 12. Both these rounds will be held on Saturday, while the semifinals, the final and the third-place match are scheduled for Sunday.

Ranked third in the FIVB World Rankings, Brazilians Thâmela Coradello and Victoria Lopes are the heavy favorites to prevail among the women. Coming from a sensational victory at the Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite less than two weeks ago, the Brazilians are in Pool A, alongside Peru's Edith Gonzalez/Medalyn Mendoza, Venezuela's Valeria Figueiredo/Veronica Carvajal and Chile's Karen Santander/Antonella Mori.

Women's Match Schedule

Paraguay's representatives at the Paris 2024 Games, Michelle Valiente and Giuliana Corrales are the only players with previous Olympic experience in the field. They start their campaign in Pool B, which also features Peru's Lisbeth Allcca/Claudia Gaona, Venezuela's Mariana Chacin/Aidana Ramirez and Colombia's Anni Cruz/Sara Gutierrez.

Pool C has Brazil's Verena Figueira/Thainara Oliveira, Argentina's Agostina Ghigliazza/Morena Abdala, Paraguay's Fiorella Quintana/Denisse Alvarez and Ecuador's Isabella Habze/Karelys Ortiz, while Pool D is formed by Argentina's Agnes Michel Tori/Brenda Churin, Chile's Sofia Ohlsson/Alejandra Dubost, Ecuador's Ariana Becerra/Stephany Yucailla and Colombia's Mercy Beleño/Juliana Franco.

The men's event has at least four teams with real chances of qualifying - Brazil's Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci and André Loyola/Renato Lima, Argentina's Tomás Capogrosso/Nicolás Capogrrosso and Chile's Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt.

Men's Match Schedule

They each begin the tournament in a different pool. Evandro and Arthur head Pool A, which also features Paraguay's Jorge Riveros/Giuliano Canillas, Uruguay's Lucas Mocellini/Nicolás Llambías and Peru's Miguel Moreno/Adrián Carreño.

The Capogrossos start in Pool B alongside Paraguay's Matías Yegros/Gonzalo Melgarejo, Peru's Giacomo Falcone/Konrad Linder and Venezuela's Santiago Camejo/Moises Yepez.

"It's a very important week and a very important tournament," Nicolás said. "It's our first chance to compete for an Olympic berth, and we prepared well to be ready to do our best on the court and go after our goals."

Fresh from winning silver at the Montréal Elite, André and Renato will face competition from Colombia's Yeferson Rodriguez/Juan Carlos Noriega, Uruguay's Sebastian Rubio/Roberto Luciano and Chile's Martin Etcheberry/Fernando Quintero in Pool C.

Looking to play in their fourth straight Olympics, the Grimalts are matched up with Argentina's Bautista Amieva/Maciel Bueno, Colombia's Marco Hidalgo/Martin Gaviria and Venezuela's Juliangel Vargas/Enyenser Bravo in Pool D.

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