As the coastal city of Adelaide, Australia, prepares to welcome the world’s best beach volleyball teams for the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, Team Ukraine is ready to make its mark in the tournament set for 14 to 23 November.
The tournament will be staged across two iconic city venues — The Drive and Pinky Flat/Tarntanya Wama — providing a stunning backdrop for the crème de la crème of beach volleyball players.
The FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has been supporting the Ukraine Volleyball Federation in continuing its volleyball and beach volleyball activities since 2022 as part of an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding, which has so far provided total funding of USD 670,000. The initiative has enabled Ukrainian athletes to continue competing internationally, nurturing a new generation of talent that’s now ready to test itself on the sport’s biggest stage.
Ukraine’s first pair, Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil, arrive in Adelaide as the 23rd seeds, representing a blend of experience and youthful ambition. For Davidova, 38, this marks her second World Championship appearance — her first coming eight years ago in 2017 with Ievgeniia Baieva. Since teaming up with Khmil in 2024, the duo has found strong chemistry, capturing bronze in the Beach Pro Tour Baden Challenge and silver in the Sveti Vlas Futures as well as reaching the Round of 16 at the 2025 European Championship.
Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil celebrate a point at the 2025 Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Ostrava.
For Khmil, this will be her senior World Championship debut, but her track record speaks volumes. A prodigy of the Ukrainian system, she captured U18 European gold (2020), U21 World gold (2021), and U20 European gold (2022) with her former partner Tetiana Lazarenko. Now stepping into the senior ranks, Khmil’s agility and composure will be vital as they face a challenging Pool B.
Their campaign begins against Mila Konink & Desy Poiesz of The Netherlands on 14 November, followed by Egypt’s Marwa Abdelhady & Nada Hamdy on 15 November, and Brazil’s second seeds Carolina Solberg Salgado & Rebecca Cavalcante Barbosa Silva on 17 November.
Ukraine’s second pair, Tetiana Lazarenko & Daria Romaniuk, will make their debut as partners in Adelaide, seeded 24th. Despite being first-time partners, both bring impressive resumes and winning momentum.
Tetiana Lazarenko in action at the 2025 Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Gstaad.
At just 22 years old, Lazarenko is already one of Ukraine’s most accomplished young athletes. Earlier this year, she made history with Maryna Hladun, capturing Ukraine’s first-ever European Championship gold medal and a Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge title. Like her former junior partner Khmil, Lazarenko also boasts three continental and world junior titles and is now eager to make her mark on the senior stage.
Her partner, Daria Romaniuk, 21, has likewise impressed with a string of strong results in 2025 alongside Yeva Serdiuk — including gold at the Sveti Vlas Futures, bronze at the Valencia Futures, and gold at the U22 European Championship. She also holds a U19 World Championship gold (2022) and now steps into the senior ranks ready to test herself against the world’s best.
Daria Romaniuk in action at the 2025 Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Hamburg.
Drawn in Pool A, they will open against Paraguay’s Michelle Sharon Valiente Amarilla & Giuliana Poletti Corrales on 14 November, face Peru’s Claudia Gaona Arevalo & Lisbeth Allcca Merino on 15 November, and conclude their group stage against Brazil’s top-seeded Thamela Coradello Galil & Victoria Lopes Pereira Tosta on 17 November.
For Ukraine, the 2025 World Championship represents more than competition — it’s an important milestone in the ongoing journey of rebuilding and reaching new heights in the sport. Both Ukrainian teams will aim to advance from the pool phase and push deep into the elimination rounds, while gaining invaluable experience against the world’s top-ranked pairs. Beyond immediate results, the experience in Adelaide and continued support from Volleyball Empowerment will be key to reaching their future goals — medals at the 2027 World Championship and the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
