Tokyo Olympics 2021

The Olympic race for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially began in February in Doha, Qatar, with the Volleyball World Elite 16. The final event is yet to be determined, but the qualification period will conclude on June 9, 2024. We’ll be providing these updates for the Beach Volleyball Olympic rankings throughout the next two years. We’re also including at the end of this story the SANDCAST video update.

Things to know about Olympic Beach qualifying:

• To qualify for the Olympic Games via the Olympic rankings, teams use their best 12 finishes throughout the Olympic qualifying period, which ends June 9, 2024. The top 17 from the Olympic rankings will punch their tickets to the Paris Olympics. The remaining seven spots are allotted to five continental cup champions, the winner of the 2023 World Championships, and the French wild card.
• Each country is limited to two teams who can earn a spot in the Olympic Games.
• Teams can never push out good finishes. Once you hit your 12, you only replace your worst finishes. In parentheses below is the number of events each pair has played.
• You earn points as a team. Therefore, if a team breaks up and the individuals select new partners, they begin with zero Olympic ranking points, although they keep their individual entry points to get into events.

Men’s Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings

1. David Ahman, Jonatan Hellvig, SWEDEN, 2760 (3)
2. Anders Mol, Christian Sorum, NORWAY, 2300 (2)
3. Adrian Carambula, Alex Ranghieri, ITALY, 1760 (2)
4. Nils Ehlers, Clemens Wickler, GERMANY, 1760 (2)
5. Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot, NETHERLANDS, 1660 (2)
6. Adrian Gavira, Pablo Herrera, SPAIN, 1560 (2)
7. Alex Brouwer, Robert Meeuwsen, NETHERLANDS, 1520 (2)
8. Michal Bryl, Bartosz Losiak, POLAND, 1500 (2)
9. Esteban Grimalt, Marco Grimalt, CHILE, 1360 (2)
10. Sam Cottafava, Paolo Nicolai, ITALY, 1360 (2)
11. Paul Burnett, Chris McHugh, AUSTRALIA, 1260 (3)
12. Moritz Pristauz, Robin Seidl, AUSTRIA, 1120 (2)
13. Cherif Samba, Ahmed Tijan, QATAR, 1060 (2)
14. Theo Brunner, Trevor Crabb, USA, 1060 (2)
15. Kusti Nolvak, Mart Tiisaar, ESTONIA, 1060 (2)
16. Evandro Goncalves, Arthur Mariano, BRAZIL, 1020 (2)
17. Vitor Felipe, Renato Lima, BRAZIL, 1000 (2)
18. Andre Loyola, George Wanderley, BRAZIL, 1000 (2)
19. Thomas Hodges, Zac Schubert, AUSTRALIA, 940 (2)
20. Dan Dearing, Sam Schachter, CANADA, 940 (2)
21. Daniele Lupo, Enrico Rossi, ITALY, 900 (2)
22. Martin Ermacora, Philipp Waller, AUSTRIA, 800 (2)
23. Julian Horl, Alex Horst, AUSTRIA, 760 (2)
24. Miguel Sarabia, Juan Virgen, MEXICO, 760 (2)
25. Tri Bourne, Chaim Schalk, USA, 760 (2)

Other American teams
30. Evan Cory, Logan Webber, USA, 560 (2)
53. Bill Kolinske, Hagen Smith, USA, 140 (1)

Women’s Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings

1. Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes, USA, 2560 (3)
2. Kristen Nuss, Taryn Kloth, USA, 2160 (3)
3. Mariafe Artacho, Taliqua Clancy, AUSTRALIA, 2000 (2)
4. Raisa Schoon, Katja Stam, NETHERLANDS, 1960 (2)
5. Duda Lisboa, Ana Patricia Silva, BRAZIL, 1860 (2)
6. Barbora Hermannova, Marie-Sara Stochlova, CZECH REPUBLIC, 1540 (2)
7. Melissa Humana-Paredes, Brandie Wilkerson, CANADA, 1520 (2)
8. Talita Antunes, Thamela Coradelli, BRAZIL, 1400 (3)
9. Carolina Salgado, Barbara Seixas, BRAZIL, 1360 (2)
10. Valentina Gottardi, Marta Menegatti, ITALY, 1360 (2)
11. Tina Graudina, Anastasija Samoilova, LATVIA, 1360 (2)
12. Megan Kraft, Emily Stockman, USA, 1260 (3)
13. Svenja Muller, Cinja Tillman, GERMANY, 1220 (2)
14. Sophie Bukovec, Sarah Pavan, CANADA, 1200 (2)
15. Terese Cannon, Sarah Sponcil, USA, 1200 (2)
16. Lezana Placette, Alexia Richard, FRANCE, 1200 (2)
17. Nina Brunner, Tanja Huberli, SWITZERLAND, 1100 (1)
18. Toni Rodriguez, Savvy Simo, USA, 1100 (2)
19. Miki Ishii, Sayaka Mizoe, JAPAN, 1100 (3)
20. Dorina Klinger, Ronja Klinger, AUSTRIA, 1020 (2)
21. Karla Borger, Sandra Ittlinger, GERMANY, 920 (2)
22. Abril Flores, Atenas Gutierrez, MEXICO, 920 (2)
23. Meimei Lin, Jinjin Zeng, CHINA, 860 (2)
24. Maria Carro, Angela Lobato, SPAIN, 800 (2)

Other American teams:
26. Hailey Harward, Kelley Kolinske, USA, 800 (2)
36. Betsi Flint, Julia Scoles, USA, 460 (1)
44. Corinne Quiggle, Sarah Schermerhorn, USA, 220 (1)

Previous rankings: Olympic beach volleyball rankings No. 1

Posted on 03/28/2023

By: Sean Crose

“I will. I will retire if I lose. I’m not here to battle people. If people want me to retire I will retire.” So former WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua told the Daily Mail. “I’m not going to fight if people don’t want me to.” Joshua has had a tough go as of late, losing two fights in a row to the skillful Oleksandr Usyk. The second defeat, which occurred late last summer, was capped off by a bizarre incident which saw Joshua take the ring mic and ramble to the assembled live and broadcast audience. It was painful to see.

Now the 24-3 Joshua will be returning on Saturday to face the 21-1 Jermaine Franklin at London’s O2 arena. It’s a smart comeback fight. After dropping two in a row in major bouts to Usyk, it only makes sense for Joshua to next face an opponent who isn’t overly well known. America’s Franklin is undoubtedly the underdog, though his only loss came to contender Dillian Whyte. Still, while Franklin will no doubt give it his all this weekend in London, seeing the Joshua fight as the golden opportunity it is, Joshua will be entering the ring as the favorite on Saturday.

A loss, then, would prove to be catastrophic for Joshua’s career. Hence, the Englishman’s desire for retirement should he once again taste defeat, this time at the O2. “It’s not even about the money,” Joshua said. “It’s about the competitor in you. That’s what’s important.” Perhaps tellingly, Joshua appears to be willing to speak somewhat in detail on the subject of hanging up his gloves. “I know when I am retired, I am gonna be chilling,” he said. “I’m gonna be thinking f–k everyone. I am done.” With that being said, Joshua also admitted in the interview that pressure is simply a part of the job.

Promoter Eddie Hearn weighed in on the importance of this weekend’s matchup for Joshua. “People talk about whether his career is over if he loses this fight. Well, his world title ambitions are in tatters if he loses this fight and that’s what’s important to him.” It’s clear team Joshua is well aware of the gravity of the current situation. “Defeat would be devastating,” Hearn continued. “So for that reason I think he tries to distance himself and say it’s just another fight but we all know there is a lot on the line on Saturday.”

Jonas Eidevall believes Arsenal can beat anyone ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich, where they trail 1-0.

Lea Schuller’s header saw the German side edge ahead in the tie last week, but Eidevall was in a confident mood ahead of the return leg at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Arsenal need two goals in 90 minutes to go through without extra-time or penalties, but must do so against a team who have conceded just four league goals this season.

However, this did not faze Eidevall, who welcomed the straightforward nature of no away goals after the rule was scrapped by UEFA.

He said: “With the squad here, we can beat any team at any time and that’s such a great feeling to have.

“We know it’s going to be determined with small details, but I have that feeling with this squad of players, any team in the world we can play, I know we have a chance of beating them.

“Having that feeling is one of the greatest feelings to have because you know anything is possible.

“I don’t think it’s that complicated. With the away goals rule, a result like this would have been really complicated to manage because if we conceded a goal [in the second leg], it would have put us in a really difficult situation and we would need to score three goals and so on.

“This is not complicated, we just need to win the football match… We need to be attacking, we need to create goalscoring opportunities of course, but we need to do it with balance so we are winning the match.”

Arsenal remain the only English side to have won the Champions League in 2007, with Chelsea also reaching the 2021 final. However, the winners list is dominated by Lyon and Wolfsburg, and more recently, Barcelona.

Eidevall offered his explanation as to why WSL teams have often struggled in Europe, but is certain an English club will win the Champions League in the near future as they continue to build the league’s brand.

He said: “Other European clubs spend more money than English clubs on salaries, at least historically. Then they have the upper hand in the [transfer] market, English have not been the biggest spenders, compared to clubs like Lyon, Paris, Wolfsburg, Barcelona.

“It’s natural that the clubs who have invested the most have also been the most successful ones.

“If you see how the WSL has grown this year with more games played at bigger stadiums, good attendances, but also great atmospheres.

“We also see the excitement and competition around all three things that matter in the league – competition to win the league, competition to qualify for the Champions League, competition to not be relegated.

“That means that a lot of games here in the spring will have an important sporting outcoming, which is great for the entertainment value. Maybe not for managers hearts and ability to have hair not a grey colour, but for everyone else, that’s exciting.

“That’s building a brand that no other European league has at the moment. That’s also going to be reflected then in how you can build and grow the product.

“While I think other European clubs have been successful because they’ve had owners and the structure to invest, English clubs will be successful because of the product we build together, with the league being the driving force behind that. It’s going to create a better future for all English club if we are co-operating and building this together.

“I know that’s what the players are looking for, they want to come to most competitive league, the best environment, the best atmosphere.

“We’re not there yet, but the first steps have been taken and it’s important to keep taking those steps so the future can be for English clubs in Europe also.

“If you build things over here, it’s only of matter of time before English club wins the Champions League. Both clubs that are in the competition this year have the potential to do it, it doesn’t have to be in distance future.

“Time will be in the English clubs favour as long as this progression continues.

“Being the champion of a continent, it is probably the greatest thing you can win in club football in Europe and we very proud in our history to be the only English club that did it. If, in the future, we could, repeats that, it would be great.

“Like I said, I have the belief that we can beat any team on any give team so let’s make the most of it tomorrow and maybe we can progress. Then once you reach semi-finals, everyone is capable of winning the trophy.”

We’ve heard reports last month that Chris Eubank Jr had formally activated a rematch clause to face Liam Smith, but with little movement on that front in the time since Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom tells Sky Sports that while he’s still expecting the Eubank Jr sequel to happen next, a fight with Kell Brook is another enticing prospect for Smith.

“It would be perfect for both of them because Kell wants to fight at 154lbs and Liam wants to fight at 154lbs. It’s the perfect way. There’s no messing around and it would be a massive fight. But Kell’s got good options. I’m just happy that he’s around, he’s fit, he’s healthy, ready for the big fights.”

As Shalom relates, Brook is in a much better place as he continues training after announcing his retirement on the heels of his big win over Amir Khan, settling that long outstanding feud. At one recent point photos of Brook supposedly snorting a white substance leaked online, causing some to question his well-being in a post-fighting life.

“He sees what happened as one of the best things that ever happened to him. It put so much scrutiny on him that [he thought] I need to sort my life out.”

So while Brook could potentially be a solid Plan B for Smith, Shalom says they’re currently planning to honor their contractual obligations for Smith vs Eubank Jr 2 until it becomes clear that it can or won’t happen. That doesn’t mean that he’s not ironing out even more potential options for Smith, though, including early talks to have him face Tim Tszyu.