COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2024) – Last week, U.S. pairs took home two medals at the Beach Pro Tour (BPT) Futures Halifax. This week, competition is underway in the U19 Beach World Championships. All four pairs entered advanced past the qualification phase into the main draw. We also look ahead to upcoming beach events to finish out the month of August.
Futures Halifax Maddie Anderson and Brook Bauer won gold at BPT Futures Halifax last week.
Anderson/Bauer defeated Maidhof/Schakel (GER) 2-0 (21-19, 21-11) in the Round of 12 and then went to three sets in the next three elimination rounds. This included the final, where Anderson/Bauer defeated Belanger/Monkhouse (CAN) 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 17-15) to win the tournament.
In the men’s tournament, Caleb Kwekel and Garrett Peterson claimed bronze. The U.S. duo suffered a semifinal loss to Abrams/Pickett (CAN) 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) but rebounded in an all-U.S. battle for the bronze. Kwekel/Peterson earned their medal with a 2-1 win over Jake Urrutia/Avery Drost (21-17, 14-21, 15-11).
Elite 16 Hamburg Julia Scoles/Betsi Flint were the lone U.S. pair to advance to the main draw of BPT Elite 16 Hamburg last week. Scoles/Flint were 2-1 in pools and went on to finish T9th in the tournament. The U.S. pair lost in the Round of 12 to Ludwig/Lippmann (GER) 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-12).
Full event schedule, results, and live stream information is available on the event page.
2024 World University Championships Following the U19 Beach World Championships will be the 2024 World University Championships, which run Sept. 2-8 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Teams from 40 countries are expected to compete as beach volleyball joins beach soccer, beach handball, beach wrestling, beach tennis and surfing on the event schedule.
Chicago AVP Filling the gap between Elite 16 events is the AVP Chicago Open. The event runs Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 and will feature many national team athletes.
For the women, Paris Olympic pairs Sara Hughes/Kelly Cheng and Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss are joined by Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles, Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft, Hailey Harward/Kylie Deberg, Savvy Simo/Abby Van Winkle and more.
For the men, Paris Olympic pairs Miles Partain/Andy Benesh and Chase Budinger/Miles Evans are joined by Trevor Crabb/Theo Brunner, Taylor Crabb/Taylor Sander, Avery Drost/Phil Dalhausser, Logan Webber/Hagen Smith, James Shaw/Chaim Schalk and more.
Kloth/Nuss and Crabb/Brunner are coming off wins at the 2024 AVP Manhattan Beach Open.
Futures Corigliano Rossano BPT Futures Corigliano Rossano, Italy, will take place Aug. 29 – Sept. 1. Kaeli Crews/Erica Brok and Katie Lindstrom/Charlie Ekstrom will represent the U.S.
There are several beach events on the calendar over the next few weeks, including the Beach U19 World Championships and World University Championships. The Beach Pro Tour also resumes with a slate of post-Olympic events.
The U.S. beach team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss came from behind late in both sets on Monday before falling to Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada in the Paris Round of 16, 2-0 (21-19, 21-18). Kloth/Nuss posted a 3-1 record in their first Olympic appearance and finished ninth.
The U.S. men’s beach team of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh completed their Olympic run in Paris in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) loss to Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar on Wednesday. Partain and Benesh, the youngest U.S. men’s beach team in Olympic history, ran off three consecutive wins to reach the quarters.