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Kelly cheng, sara hughes, beach volleyball’s new sensation, win world tour finals.
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Sara Hughes (R) and Kelly Cheng (L) of United States celebrate after won the Quarterfinals women’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals against Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of United States at Aspire Zone in Doha,Qatar on 28 January 2023. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
In just a few months since reuniting, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes have become not just the best women’s beach volleyball team in the U.S., but also, arguably, the world.
Cheng and Hughes, former partners who got back together for a 2024 Olympic run, won the World Tour Finals for the biggest title for a U.S. pair since April Ross and Alix Klineman took gold in Tokyo.
The 27-year-old Californians swept reigning world champions Duda and Ana Patricia of Brazil 21-18, 21-16 in Sunday’s final in Doha.
Cheng and Hughes have entered four tournaments since reuniting last fall and won all of them -- once on the domestic AVP tour and now three international events.
They are rolling into the start of the 2024 Olympic qualifying window next week. It’s likely that the top two U.S. women’s pairs across international events over the course of the next 18 months qualify for the Paris Games.
Cheng and Hughes were previously NCAA champion teammates at USC, then the most promising, young U.S. pro team before splitting in 2018. Cheng made the Tokyo Olympics with Sarah Sponcil (lost in the round of 16), while Hughes’ Tokyo bid flamed out when partner Summer Ross suffered a back injury in 2019.
“It was a lot of the unknown and being young and kind of immature and listening to maybe outside forces and not really knowing how to deal with things as well,” Hughes said in October of their past breakup. “We’ve pretty much moved past that in our relationship. Moving forward with one another, we’re completely different players, and we’re a lot more mature. It feels like the right time. The past is past. We’re just moving forward.”
Cheng and Hughes have taken over from April Ross and Klineman as the top U.S. team. After winning Olympic gold, Klineman underwent shoulder surgery in January 2022 and last week announced she is pregnant and may return from childbirth for a “last-second” 2024 Olympic qualifying bid .
April Ross, a 40-year-old with an Olympic medal of every color, last competed in March, then withdrew before June’s world championships, where she was entered with Emily Day , with an unspecified injury. She has not announced if or when she plans to return to competition.
The U.S. earned at least one beach volleyball medal at every Olympics that the sport has been on the program (since 1996), and a men’s or women’s gold at all but one Olympics. Eighteen months out from the Paris Games, Cheng and Hughes are the best hope to keep the podium streak going.
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Beach Volleyball Digest: $800,000 World Tour Finals in Doha begins Thursday
Travis Mewhirter
January 23, 2023
We have an Alix Klineman update, sort of, but first …
It wasn’t difficult to see why Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes , and Sophie Bukovec and Sarah Pavan, immediately took to social media to celebrate what was then the best of Christmas presents: Wild cards into the season-ending Volleyball World Pro Beach Tour Finals in Doha, Qatar.
They were given an opportunity to play in one of the most exclusive events on the Beach Pro Tour calendar, with just a 10-team field and four guaranteed matches. They were gifted the perfect tune-up for the onset of Olympic qualifying, which begins the weekend following World Tour Finals, ironing out any kinks in their new chemistry in a risk-free setting — there are no points on the line, and therefore no points to lose, in the World Tour Finals.
They were also, of course, given the shot to compete for $150,000.
That’s not the total purse, nor is that a typo: $150,000 is the prize given to the gold medalists this weekend in Doha.
Prize money has been a common gripe amongst players on the Beach Pro Tour. But that will not be a gripe this weekend, where 20 teams will compete for a grand total of $800,000 in prize money. Even the teams finishing last will pocket nearly $8,000, roughly the equivalent of winning a silver medal in a Challenge, as Italians and men’s wild cards Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri did in Torquay, Australia in November.
“This is the culmination of an incredibly competitive year on the sand around the world and one look at the teams involved shows just how exciting and competitive the first ever Beach Pro Tour Finals is going to be,” Volleyball World CEO Finn Taylor said . “With Olympic champions, world champions, in-form teams and new and returning partnerships taking to the sand, we have an event that promises to be packed with intriguing stories from the best teams in the world.
“We are looking forward to receiving a wonderful welcome from our hosts at the magnificent Aspire Park in Doha, and are grateful to our partners at the Qatar Volleyball Association and Aspire Zone.â€
Cheng and Hughes, and Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth , are the only Americans in the field. Doha will provide the first look at the new team of Pavan and Bukovec, who formed after Meli ssa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson , both former partners of Pavan and Bukovec, became a team.
You can watch all of the matches on Volleyball TV.Â
Alix Klineman announces partner for 2023 seasonÂ
Alix Klineman announced some big news earlier on Monday morning. Far too big for a simple Beach Digest item. We’ll have a full story soon.
Americans dropping out of — and dropping into — Doha Elite 16
The field for the season-opening Doha Elite 16, which follows the World Tour Finals and begins February 1, is constantly shifting. Americans Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, who were seeded fourth in the qualifier, and Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles , who were directly into the main draw, have both dropped out of the Elite 16. This made for some excellent news for Tim Brewster and Kyle Friend , who slipped into the qualifier and are now seeded No. 15, in front of Canadians Jake MacNeil and Alex Russell. Friend is racking up the frequent flier miles early in 2023, as he only just returned from the King of the Court in Doha, where he finished fifth with Troy Field, barely one week ago.
Little else has changed on the women’s side, where Savvy Simo and Toni Rodriguez are still No. 2 on the reserve list.
Silila Tucker, Paul Lotman announce partnership
There are few sports where the cliche of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” has more relevance than in beach volleyball. Paul Lotman has taken the saying to heart, joining forces with Silila Tucker, the 2022 Eric Zaun Award winner and a defender who had beaten Lotman in their previous three meetings.
Lotman enjoyed a breakout year in 2022, winning his first AVP, in Atlanta with Miles Partain, and then nearly won the season-ending Phoenix Gold Series Championship. He received a last-minute call from Taylor Crabb to compete in back-to-back Challenge events in Dubai in the fall, and after finishing fifth and third, respectively, he added another top-five with a fourth in the Torquay Elite 16 with Miles Evans. All of those finishes vaulted Lotman, who led the AVP in total blocks in 2022 — earning the nickname Paul Blockman — onto the USA National Team, where he’ll use those points to carry Tucker into Challenge events to begin the season.
Tucker had a bit of a breakthrough himself in 2022, quadrupling his previous high in prize money, winning the Laguna Open with Andy Benesh , where he beat Lotman and Troy Field in the finals.
Sun Belt adds beach, forms eight-team conference
A week ago, it was Idaho who was adding beach volleyball . Now the Sun Belt has grabbed onto the fastest-growing sport in NCAA history, adding beach volleyball as its 19th sponsored sport.
Four Sun Belt Conference institutions currently sponsor Beach Volleyball — Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, ULM and Southern Miss. In addition, the Sun Belt will welcome affiliate members College of Charleston, Mercer, Stephen F. Austin and UNCW to form the eight-team league. Georgia State is a two-time NCAA Championship participant (2016, 2022) and advanced to the round of six last season.
“We are pleased and excited to welcome Beach Volleyball as our 19th championship sport,†Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill said. “As the fastest growing collegiate sport, particularly within the footprint of the Sun Belt, it is a perfect fit for our conference. We’re looking forward to providing an elite competitive and championship environment for the student-athletes, coaches and fans of Sun Belt Beach Volleyball.â€
Nike sponsors Kelly Cheng
The Swoosh will now be a regular feature in American beach volleyball. Kelly Cheng and Sarah Hughes, the No. 1 team in the USA, have both inked contracts with the sporting-goods giant. Hughes has been a longtime Nike athlete, signing almost immediately after graduating from USC, while Cheng was briefly with Adidas during her run with Sarah Sponcil.Â
Brenden Sander signs with Panathinaikos Athens
This past September, the brotherly duo of Taylor and Brenden Sander drew no small amount of eyeballs when they teamed to take a fifth at the Laguna Open, upending a number of accomplished AVP players in the process — Seain Cook and David Lee, Evan Cory and Logan Webber, to name a few. With Brenden, the younger of the two, putting in regular time with the USA Volleyball developmental group, many wondered if he would be transferring to the beach, as older brother Taylor did.
Last week, Brenden, a former standout at BYU, signed with Panathinaikos Athens to play outside hitter.
Thais Treumann claims SSOVA open title at 14 years, one month
I made a deal with LT Treumann , a proud father and an excellent beach volleyball coach who oversees B Volley in St. Petersburg, Florida: When his daughter, Thais, won an open, with a solid field consisting of professionals, then, and only then, would she get a write-up. That day came on Saturday, when Treumann, an eighth grader at the age of 14 years and one month, and Lydia Smith, won a SSOVA event, beating Aurora Davis and Bree Scarbrough in the finals.
The field included USC recruit Ashley Pater and UCLA recruit Kennedy Coakley, who finished third, as did Violet Slabakova and Regan McGuire. Treumann, it should be noted, has received interest, according to her father, from all of the aforementioned schools, among several others.
Treumann, however, is not the youngest to win an open. Sarah Wood, a 14-year-old from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, is the youngest I could find. She won an open at Highline Arena in New Jersey on December 19, 2020 — when she was just 12 years and seven months. Earlier this year, Wood became the youngest player to qualify for an AVP, when she and Ashley McGinn qualified for the Muskegon Tour Series when Wood was just 14 years, one month and 16 days. She snapped the record by more than two years.
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Olympic Beach Volleyball Champions Anders Mol and Christian Sorum capture FIVB World Tour Finals title 2021
Following their triumph in Cagliari the Norwegian pair are now the most decorated European team in the history of the World Tour, as Borger and Sude gave Germany the women's crown again.
(2021 Getty Images)
Olympic beach volleyball men's champions Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway were once again imperious in 2021, and rounded off the season with a thrilling victory at the FIVB World Tour Finals on October 10, in Cagliari, Italy .
They defeated Czech Repbulic duo Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner 2-0 (22-20, 23-21) to become the second men’s pair ever to win the World Tour Finals twice .
The match was not without its challenges for Mol and Sorum.
Twice the Tokyo 2020 gold medallists were forced to come from behind in the set to take the crown.
Deep into the first, Perusic and Schweiner looked to be in a strong position, with two match points in hand.
The Dutch duo responded by winning four consecutive points before Sorum spiked the set-winner.
Similarly, in the second set, the Czech couple were unable to retain a hard-fought lead.
At 15-11, the 2021 EuroBeachVolley winners Mol-Sorum turned the tables on Perusic and Schweiner, clawing the score back before then closing out the match – and the final – with a scintillating block handed out by Mol.
Speaking to Volleyball World after the event Sorum said :
“It’s just amazing! The final is always difficult to play and the Czech guys are a good team. They played really strong the whole tournament and deserve to be here.”
“It was a great final and I’m just supper happy to have won it.”
The men's bronze went to Christiaan Vaderhorst and Steven Van de Velde of The Netherlands .
Germany win women's event once again
Karla Borger and Julia Sude won the women's event, making it four wins out of six editions for Germany.
reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada claimed silver.
Tokyo 2020 champions April Ross and Alix Klineman of USA took the bronze.
Highlights and full replays of the Olympic action from 2021 can be streamed on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com here .
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Men's bronze & gold medal matches - beach volleyball | tokyo 2020 replays, what we learned: beach volleyball wrap-up from the tokyo 2020 olympic games, men's beach volleyball | highlights, anders mol and christian sorum: it's all about chemistry, find out how norway has become a beach volleyball powerhouse.
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2023 Beach World Tour Finals
Dec. 6-9, 2023
Doha, Quatar
Beach Event, National Team Events
Kelly Cheng Sara Hughes Taryn Kloth Kristen Nuss Andy Benesh Miles Partain
Women Main Draw
Müller/Tillmann (GER) def. Cheng/Hughes 2-1 (17-21, 22-20, 15-13) Melissa/Brandie (CAN) def. Cheng/Hughes 2-0 (23-21, 21-16) Tainá/Victoria (BRA) def. Kloth/Nuss 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) Kloth/Nuss def. Hüberli/Brunner (SUI) 2-0 Ana Patricia/Duda (BRA) def. Cheng/Hughes 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) Mariafe/Clancy (AUS) def. Kloth/Nuss 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) Kloth/Nuss def. Stam/Schoon (NED) 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) Tina/Anastasjia (LAT) def. Cheng/Hughes 2-0 (21-19, 21-18)
Quarterfinals Kloth/Nuss def. Melissa/Brandie (CAN) 2-0 (21-17, 21-14)
Semifinals Kloth/Nuss def. Mariafe/Clancy (AUS) 2-0 (21-19, 21-13)
Finals Kloth/Nuss def. Muller/Tillmann 2-0 (21-17, 21-14)
Men Main Draw
Perusic Schweiner (CZE) def. Partain/Benesh 2-1 (26-24, 17-21, 15-12) Losiak/Bryl (POL) def. Partain/Benesh 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) Cherif/Ahmed (QAT) def. Partain/Benesh 2-1 (16-21, 21-17, 20-18) Cottafava/Nicolai (ITA) def. Partain/Benesh 2-0 (21-17, 21-14)
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Kristen Nuss, a 25-year-old American, teamed up with Taryn Kloth to win the beach volleyball tour finals in Doha and finish the year ranked No. 2 in the world. They beat Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann in the final and Olympic silver medalists Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in the semifinal.
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