A player in action during Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge in Dubai.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Following qualifiers the 24-team main draw line-ups of both men’s and women’s categories begin their pool matches at the first of two Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge events in Dubai.

The eighth challenge tournament of the inaugural Beach Pro Tour season began on Saturday and will continue till Oct.25 at Kite Beach in Dubai.

The International Volleyball Federation is organizing the tournament with the support of the Dubai Sports Council and in collaboration with the Emirates Volleyball Association.

In the first round of matches in pool play on Sunday morning, UAE men’s team Salem and Al Houli lost 2-0 to Australian team comprising Schubert and Hodge while Hood and Mazin of Oman lost to Carambula and Rossi of Italy 2-0.

In one of the interesting duel of tournament, which caught the attention of number of fans was battle of the two brothers teams, Calvin and Quincy Aye of France.

The French brothers edged past Nicolas and Tomas Capogrosso of Argentina 2-1.

In the women’s event, top seeds from Germany Sude/Schneider beat Canadian qualifiers McKay/Quttunee 2-0.

The newly formed pairing of 35-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympian and 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals gold medallist Sude and 31-year-old Schneider of Germany are in superb form.

Monday will see the elimination phase get under way in the women’s and men’s competition with the day cumulating in the quarter-finals.

Tuesday will then see the semi-finals and medal matches before the second event begins on Thursday with the qualification rounds.

In men and women’s competitions, the 24 pairs are split into six pools of four.

In the first stage of the main draw, a modified pool play format (semi-finals, third-place match and final within each pool) will be applied. The top three teams in each pool will advance to the knockout bracket.

A second tournament in the same category will be held in Dubai from October 27 to October 30. The UAE has not hosted an event of such a high calibre since 2008 when the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour visited the Asian country for the first time with a two-gender Dubai Open tournament.

Health and fitness in focus

Beach Pro Tour makes its first stop in Dubai with the first of two Challenge events taking place in the UAE.

The most active two events on the Beach Pro Tour kicked off in with the first of the back-to-back Challenge events on Kite Beach.

It is the first time on the Beach Pro Tour calendar has held the successive tournaments, with athletes gracing the golden sands of Kite Beach in Dubai.

Run by Volleyball World in partnership with the Dubai Sports Council, and in cooperation with the UAE Federation, the fans see athletes invited to give their professional advice on how the sport can foster an active and healthy lifestyle.

During the days of competition, fans will learn just how beneficial participating in the sport can be for the body and mind.

The first in a series of beach clinics was held on the centre court.

Organised by local beach volleyball club Esperia, 25 participants were treated to tutorials from two professional coaches, Ryan Hutchinson and Melissa Done, and Brazilian volleyball legend and FIVB Ambassador Giba.

“It’s great to be able to get on the sand and help the coaches and be a part of this event on Kite Beach,” said the 2004 Olympic champion. “There is a real passion for volleyball in Dubai and I am really looking forward to the events as well as giving something back to the local players.”