ITALY — Business time begins on the sand on Wednesday as the knockout phase begins at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome.
Pairings for the Round of 32 were decided by a draw held at the iconic Foro Italico on Tuesday, with the knockout rounds of the competition kicking off on Wednesday at 9am CEST.
After three breathtaking days of pool play, 28 of the 32 teams per gender who qualified automatically were joined by a further four in the lucky loser’s matches. The drama in those games did not disappoint either with an incredible seven of the eight games going the distance.
Round of 32 matches on Wednesday will be followed by the Round of 16 on Thursday, before the quarter-finals on Friday, semi-finals on Saturday and medal matches on Sunday when the champions will be crowned.
Exciting road to the finals mapped out
The draw for the elimination round served up some tasty match-ups. In the men’s tournament, look out for a clash between high-flying Dutch pairs Alex Brouwer/Rob Meeuwsen and Christiaan Varenhorst/Steven van de Velde. Another fascinating encounter will pit local favourites Paolo Nicolai/Samuele Cottafava against Cubans Amaro Diaz/Moliner Alayo.
Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, eyeing the one missing title to their collecting begin the elimination phase against Dutch duo, Matthew Immers and Stefan Boermans.
In the women’s tournament, reigning world champions Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada will take on Taina Lima/Hegeile Almeida dos Santos of Brazil. There’s an all-American encounter between Kelley Kolinske/Sara Hughes and Emily Day/Emily Stockman, while Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia play Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger and Isabel Schneider.
FIVB Beach Volleyball Media Release
Photo Credit: FIVB
