2019-07-25 20:07:00 CEST
The week in the sands of the world
The venue was set at the Shiozake Park, which will host the beach volleyball tournament at the Tokyo Games
Ok, it’s weird, we get it. But in 10 days from now, the 2019 Beach Major Series season will be over. That means that the upcoming A1 Vienna Major is your final chance to witness beach volleyball stars competing at the highest level this year.
Whether you made the smart decision of being at the Danube Island in the next few days or not, here’s how you can entertain yourself until the tournament starts:
Olympic test event in Tokyo
Most of the players set to compete at the Vienna Major will land in the Austrian capital in flights coming from Tokyo, as the Japanese capital is hosting a World Tour four-star tournament that serves as a test event for next year’s Olympics. The venue set at the Shiozake Park is very similar to the one for the 2020 Games and several of the medal contenders in a year's time have flown to Asia to give it a closer look this week.
The World Tour four-star tournament is a test event for next year's Olympics
Countries set for Olympic qualifier
Speaking about next year’s Olympics, the 16-team qualification tournament set to take place in Haiyang, China, from September 18 to 22, has had its participating nations confirmed. China, USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, Germany and Japan will each send one women’s team to the event while China, Norway, Russia, Poland, Qatar, the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, Latvia, USA, Czech Republic, China, Canada and Austria will compete for the Olympic berth in the men’s tournament. The duos will be revealed at the start of August.
Teams from 16 nations in each gender will have an additional opportunity to qualify for the Olympics in September
Beach volleyball at continental and national levels
Besides of the Tokyo test event, the beach volleyball weekend also features a handful of tournaments, most notably the Pan-American Games, which reunites duos from South, Central and North America, in Lima, Peru, for the multi-sport event. Some national tours will also be at full pace including the American AVP in Hermosa Beach, the German Tour in St. Peter-Ording, the Swiss Tour in Basel, the Dutch Tour in Vrouwenpolder and the Austria Tour in Ebensee.
Social Media: Happy birthday, Riikka!
The club for professional beach volleyball players aged 40 or more, which includes notable names such as Kerri Walsh Jennings, Ricardo Santos and John Hyden, just added a new member as Finnish veteran Riikka Lehtonen celebrated her 40th birthday this week. Happy birthday, Riikka, we hope to have you around for many years to come!
In case you missed it
Vikings are the favorites to win gold at the Vienna Major
The men’s and women’s teams you should support at the Danube Island
Strauss twins glad to finally play together at home
See you next week!