Beach Shorts

Hello, beach volleyball fans! This should be a special weekend for all of us who love the sport as it will mark the return of German star Kira Walkenhorst to the sand. The Rio 2016 Olympic champion will appear at the second event of the 2020 German Tour in Düsseldorf starting on Friday.

Another reason to smile is that the World Tour is returning after being on hold for the last four months with a one-star tournament in Ljubljana. The week also brought the news of a split in one of the top Swiss teams and the birth of a beach volleyball prospect in Brazil.

Here’s what we have for you in the latest edition of Beach Shorts:

Kira Walkenhorst returns on German Tour

The return of Rio 2016 Olympic champion Kira Walkenhorst is one of the highlights of the second event of the German Tour in Düsseldorf this weekend. The 2017 world champion will pair with 18-year-old Anna-Lena Grüne in the women-only "Road to Timmendorf" tournament while Swiss star Tanja Hüberli will appear at the "Top Teams" event partnering with Isabel Schneider. The weekend will also have the closing event of the American AVP season in Long Beach and a tournament of the Polish Tour in Kolobrzeg.

World Tour returns in Ljubljana

After more than four months, beach volleyball competition at the international level restarts this weekend with a one-star double-gender in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The tournament will feature some elite European teams such as Austria’s Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst and Czech Republic’s Martina Bonnerová/Sara Olivova.

Swiss Beeler and Krattiger split

After four seasons together, Swiss Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger are going separate ways when they return to the sand. The two will no longer play together as Nico decided to return to his indoor career and will play in the next edition of the Swiss League. Marco has already picked a new partner and will join forces with Florian Breer. Good luck, boys!

Social Media: Welcome, Lucca!

Brazilian beach volleyball Olympian Maria Elisa Antonelli gave birth to her first son, Lucca, this week in Rio de Janeiro. Since her husband, Paulo Victor Branco, was also a professional player in the country, it’s easy to imagine it won't take him long to hit the sand, right? Welcome, Lucca! We’re all looking forward to seeing you in a Beach Major Series event soon!

 

 

 

 

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Oi meu amor 💙🙏💙

A post shared by Maria Elisa Antonelli (@mariaelisaantonelli) on Jul 27, 2020 at 2:52am PDT

See you next week!