The fact that the 2023 season of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour started and ended in Doha, Qatar, pictured in a perfect way what the event’s second season represented for the sport – a full lap around the world, taking beach volleyball to every corner of the planet.

Building on the success of a memorable inaugural season in 2022, the Beach Pro Tour was again in every continent, providing opportunities for young, up-and-coming players from around the world to get started and earn points at the Futures events and setting the stage for the biggest stars of the sport to battle for medals and Olympic points in Challenge and Elite16 tournaments.

• The 2023 FIVB Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour matches are available on demand on VBTV.

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The 2023 Beach Pro Tour season had more than ten months of action, with the opening matches of the very first event, the Doha Elite16, beginning on February 1, and the medal matches of the Beach Pro Tour Finals, also held in the Qatari capital, bringing the curtain down on December 9.

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In the period, the event held tournaments in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, visiting as many as 27 countries and 45 cities. From Bujumbura, Burundi, which hosted a Futures in August, to Paris, the host city of next year’s Olympics, which welcomed an Elite16 between the end of September and the start of October, the Beach Pro Tour returned to already traditional locations, such as the Swiss Alps of Gstaad, but also explored exciting new ones, like Goa, India, or Nuvali, the Philippines.

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Brazil hosted more events than any other country, welcoming as many as five tournaments during the season – Elite16 tournaments in Uberlândia and João Pessoa, Challenges in Itapema and Saquarema and a Futures in Miguel Pereira. Canada was the other nation to feature at least one event of each category, hosting an Elite16 in Montréal, a Challenge in Edmonton and a Futures in Halifax.

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While for several of the dozens of teams that appeared on the Beach Pro Tour competing among the elite of the sport was already a major achievement, duos from different 35 nations returned home with medals, rewarding their efforts and high level of play.

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Longtime powerhouses in the sport, Brazil and the United States were the most successful countries on the Beach Pro Tour in 2023. While the South Americans claimed 32 medals (12 gold, seven silver and 13 bronze) over the course of the year, the North Americans secured 30 (nine gold, 14 silver and seven bronze). Italy came third with 20 podium appearances (seven gold, five silver and eight bronze).

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Considering only the men’s side, Norway was the most successful nation in 2023, having collected as many as 14 medals (six gold, five silver, three bronze), two more than Austria and the United States. Reigning Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum made major contributions to the Norwegian success, shining at the Elite16 level with golds in events in Doha, Ostrava and Montréal, silver in tournaments in Tepic, Uberlândia and Gstaad and bronze in Hamburg – they also took silver at the Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha.

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Among the women, Brazil was the biggest winner of the 2023 season, with teams from the South American nation topping the charts with 23 medals – five more than the United States and 13 more than China and Australia. Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos won impressive eight medals at the Elite16 level (gold in Ostrava, Gstaad, Hamburg, Paris and João Pessoa, silver in Tepic and bronze in Uberlândia and at the Beach Pro Tour Finals), while veterans Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado contributed another five (gold at Challenge events in Espinho, Edmonton and Haikou and silver at the Itapema Challenge and the João Pessoa Elite16).

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Brazilian women produced one of just three podium sweeps of the season, taking gold, silver and bronze at the Espinho Challenge with Bárbara/Carol, Andressa Cavalcanti/Vitória Rodrigues and Ágatha Bednarczuk/Rebecca Cavalcanti. The other two medal sweeps happened with home teams in Futures events as China had Meimei Lin/Jinjin Zeng, Xinxin Wang/Lingdi Zhu and Xu Yan/Mingli Zhou go first, second and third in Wenzhou Cangnan while France filled the podium in Montpellier with Artur Canet/Téo Rotar, Rémi Basséreau/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Calvin Aye/Quincy Aye.

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The 2024 Beach Pro Tour season is set to begin once again in Doha, with the Qatari capital hosting an Elite16 event from March 5-9. Among the highlights of the calendar are the Ostrava Elite16, from June 5-9, which will be last tournament before the Olympic qualification deadline, and Vienna Elite16, which will be the last event before the Paris Games, from July 10-14.

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