Hello, beach volleyball fans! After slow weeks to start the year, prepare for the busiest weekend of 2020 so far with multiple events taking place around the globe. It all starts with the Doha four-star, which is not included here as we’ll have a specific article recapping it later this Friday, but it goes well beyond that.
Sticking with the World Tour, Langwaki, in Malaysia, is hosting a one-star event this weekend. Olympic qualification is also underway in Asia and Africa, with multiple stages of the Continental Cup taking place simultaneously. And last but not least, there’s also a non-official, but super fun beach volleyball challenge happening in Rio de Janeiro.
Here we go!
Champions of the sand challenge in Rio
Rio de Janeiro is a popular destination for beach volleyball teams during preseason and taking advantage of the presence of two of the best international duos there, Brazilians Ágatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti will host the “Champions of the Sand” Challenge on Sunday, in which they will play Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Maggie Kozuch and Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth. The format includes regular tandem matches, but also a 4v4 challenge, which should be a lot of fun.
Continental Cup in Asia and Africa
As the Tokyo 2020 Games approach, Olympic qualification progresses, and that’s the case this weekend with multiple events of the Continental Cup taking place. The Asian tournament is taking place in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, while in Africa, the competition is split between Entebbe, Uganda, for the women, and Banjul, Gambia, for the men.
