As many as five of the six podium spots at last week’s Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite in Brazil were occupied by teams benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support. Norway’s Anders Mol & Christian Sorum, Sweden’s Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson and Latvia’s Martins Plavins & Kristians Fokerots lined up in the top three places in the men’s tournament, while Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson and Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli & Nina Brunner picked up silver and bronze on the women’s side, where USA’s Kristen Cruz & Taryn Brasher triumphed with gold.
Norges Volleyballforbund, the Norwegian national federation, has so far been allocated a total of USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams, with Jetmund Bernsten in charge of the men’s duos. In addition, a USD 6,000 for a national team coach development knowledge transfer program was granted. The Swedish Volleyball Association’s beach volleyball department has been funded with USD 84,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national teams, trained by ground-breaking coach Rasmus Jonsson, also in addition to a USD 6,000 in a national team coach development knowledge transfer program. The Volleyball Federation of Latvia has been granted a total of USD 210,000 in coach support for their national teams in beach volleyball from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, in addition to USD 5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. Their duos are working under the guidance of coach Genadijs Samoilovs.
The number two team in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking, Norway’s Anders Mol & Christian Sorum, appeared at their first Beach Pro Tour event of the year as the fifth-seeded pair in the 24-team main draw. They lost only one of the seven matches they played in Saquarema on the way to their 15th Beach Pro Tour gold. In the semifinals, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists produced a 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) victory over sixth-seeded Latvians Martins Plavins & Kristians Fokerots, and in Sunday’s gold medal showdown (pictured in the main photo), the Norwegians took out third-seeded Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson in straight sets, 2-0 (21-16, 23-21).
The young Swedes, 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship silver medalists, reached the final on a six-game winning streak, without dropping a single set. With an emphatic 2-0 (21-9, 21-8) sweep of their semifinal against fourth-seeded Remi Bassereau Daubas & Calvin Aye of France, Holting Nilsson & Andersson secured their 10th podium finish on the Beach Pro Tour.
The Latvian pairing of 40-year-old veteran Plavins, a London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, and reigning U21 world champion Fokerots also crowned their 2026 debut with a medal. They bounced back from their semifinal loss to Mol & Sorum with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-13) win over Daubas & Aye for the bronze to pick up their sixth Beach Pro Tour medal together.
Volleyball Canada’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos. The women’s pairs are working under Serbian coach Srdjan Veckov. In addition, a USD 6,000 has been granted for a national team coach development knowledge transfer program. Swiss Volley’s beach volleyball department has been funded with USD 366,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their women’s national teams are working under the instruction of Polish coach Damian Wojtasik.
Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, seeded fourth in Saquarema, went on a six-game winning streak, crowned with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-17, 15-12) semifinal victory over bracket leaders Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti of Brazil, currently the number three team in the world, on the way to the silver, their seventh Beach Pro Tour medal as a duo.
Switzerland’s Nina Brunner decorated her return from maternity leave with a podium finish. She and Tanja Huberli, seeded eighth, recovered from their 2-1 (21-11, 14-21, 15-12) semifinal loss to the world’s number one team, second-seeded Kristen Cruz & Taryn Brasher of the United States, with a 2-0 (22-20, 21-11) win over Carol & Rebecca in the third-place match. The Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists earned their sixth Beach Pro Tour medal.
Cruz & Brasher mastered seven wins in a row in Saquarema and picked up their third consecutive and 13th overall Beach Pro Tour gold. In the final showdown, they prevailed over Melissa & Brandie with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) sweep.
32 men’s teams and 30 women’s teams from 20 different countries took part in the Joao Pessoa Elite.
The next Elite event will take place in Brasilia, Brazil from April 29 to May 3.
