It was double joy for Australia as the 2026 AVC Asia Beach Volleyball Championships concluded on Sunday in Shangluo, China after their men’s pair of Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher and women’s duo of Stefanie Fejes & Taliqua Clancy emerged champions.
By winning the tournament, Australia has secured two spots at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. The winners of the 2026 continental championships will earn their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) a quota spot for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
Australia’s Stefanie Fejes & Taliqua Clancy defeated the home team of Xu Yan & Xia Xinyi in straight sets (23-21, 21-16) in the women’s final played on Sunday. It’s the sixth Asian title for Clancy who also won gold medal in the 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions while playing with different partners.
Australia’s women’s team, Stefanie Fejes & Taliqua Clancy, celebrate after winning the 2026 AVC Asia Beach Volleyball Championships. (Photo credits: AVC)
Japan’s Asami Shiba & Reika Murakami claimed the bronze medal after recording a 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) victory over New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald in the third place match.
Champions Fejes & Clancy only dropped only one set enroute their gold medal feat in Shangluo. They reached the final on a 6-0 win-loss record that included a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) sweep of Japan’s Shiba & Reika in the semifinals. The only set they dropped in the entire competition was in the 2-1 (20-22, 21-09, 15-06) win over Vanuatu’s Sherrysyn Toko & Miller Pata in the Round of 16.
To qualify for the final, China’s Yan X. & XY Xia had defeated Polley & MacDonald by 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) in the semifinals after cruising through the preliminary round, Round of 16, and quarterfinals on a flawless 5-0 record.
Australia’s Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher arrived in Shangluo with fresh memories of their gold medal performance at the Beach Pro Tour Challenge event held in July. And on Sunday, the Australian third seeds edged out compatriots Thomas Hodges & Ben Hood by 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-12) in the men’s final to be crowned Asian champions.
It’s the first Asian title for Nicolaidis & Carracher who had claimed silver medal in the previous edition held in 2024 in Santa Rosa, The Philippines.
China’s Jiaxin Wu & Chaowei Zhou got the bronze medal after Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan forfeited the third place match due to injury.
Nicolaidis & Carracher had reached the final on a 6-0 record that featured a stunning 2-1 (14-21, 24-22, 15-11) comeback win over three-time champions Cherif & Ahmed of Qatar in the semifinals.
Hodges & Hood also advanced to the final on a 6-0 record including a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) sweep of China’s Wu Jiaxin & Ch. W. Zhou in the semifinals.
