David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig are closer than ever to the top of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking. After their triumph at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Joao Pessoa Elite16 in Brazil last week, the Swedish jump-setters zoomed in on the number one position and are now standing only 400 points below leaders Anders Mol & Christian Sorum of Norway.

The gap between the two Scandinavian pairs has never been this narrow. In fact the last time Mol & Sorum had someone that close behind them in the number two spot was way back in early November 2022, when the distance between them and second-ranked Alexander Brouwer & Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands was just 180 points.

Ahman & Hellvig collected 1,200 points with their first place in Joao Pessoa and, after dropping 460 points from their ninth best result, they net-gained 740 towards a new total of 8,460 points. The Beachvolley Vikings, who did not take part in Joao Pessoa, have 8,860.

Another 1,440 points below are the new number three, reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic & David Schweiner of Czechia. They failed to move beyond the quarterfinals in Brazil last week, but pocketed the entire amount of 760 points that came with their fifth place to climb three positions up on a total of 7,020, or 120 points clear of fourth-ranked Miles Partain & Andrew Benesh of the United States. It is the first time the Czech standouts rise that high in the chart since June 2022.

Joao Pessoa runners-up Paolo Nicolai & Samuele Cottafava of Italy net-gained 500 of the 1,100 points that came with their silver to improve to a 6,520-point total. They moved two spots up from the ninth position they held jointly with Australia’s Thomas Hodges & Zachery Schubert to number seven, which they are sharing with Brazil’s Andre Stein & George Wanderley. The latter finished fourth last week and pocketed 300 points, but did not move in the World Ranking.

Third-placed Dutchmen Stefan Boermans & Yorick de Groot, however, rocketed as many as 13 positions up to number 15, stashing the entire amount of 1,000 points that came with their Joao Pessoa bronze.

Brazil’s Adrielson Dos Santos & Arthur Da Silva achieved the highest leap in the ranking among the top eight in the Joao Pessoa final standings. They jumped 56 positions up to number 81. Among the other men’s quarterfinalists, Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan ascended two spots up to number 11, while Brazil’s Evandro Oliveira & Arthur Mariano stayed put in number 12. Meanwhile, despite ending their Joao Pessoa campaign at the eighthfinals, Poland’s Michal Bryl & Bartosz Losiak pocketed the entire 600 points they collected and climbed back up to the top 10 for the first time since August, in position nine, two spots up from last week’s number 11.

On the other hand, there was little movement in the women’s chart as the World Rankings received their weekly update on Monday. Only three of the top eight teams in the Joao Pessoa final standings improved their positions, while the other five stayed where they were last week.

Bronze medallists Xue Chen & Xia Xinyi of China entered the top 10 for the first time since they reunited at the beginning of this season. They netted 400 of the 1,000 points that came with the third place and improved to a 6,280-point total, rising two positions to number nine.

Pocketing 120 points, fourth-placed Americans Taryn Kloth & Kristen Nuss tied compatriots Sara Hughes & Kelly Cheng, who did not play in Joao Pessoa, as the world’s joint number two teams this week on 8,280 points each.

France’s Lezana Placette & Alexia Richard returned to the top 20. Last week’s number 27 climbed seven positions up the ranking after bagging 300 of the 760 points they picked up for reaching the Joao Pessoa quarterfinals.

After topping the podium at home in Brazil, the world’s number one team, Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) & Ana Patricia Ramos, widened the gap at the top of the chart. They improved to a total of 9,540 and are now 1,260 points clear of the two American duos.

Joao Pessoa runners-up Barbara Seixas & Carol Solberg of Brazil stayed in number seven, while the fifth-placed teams of Netherlands’ Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon, Germany’s Cinja Tillmann & Svenja Muller and Latvia’s Anastasija Samoilova & Tina Graudina kept their positions 6, 12 and 14, respectively.

**FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking – Women**
**FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking – Men**

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