BPT Finals in Doha: Women’s Top Teams Set for Battle

The biggest Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event of the year is about to begin! The Beach Pro Tour Finals will take place in Doha, Qatar, from Wednesday, December 4, to Saturday, December 7, at the Aspire Zone. The women’s competition will feature 10 of the world’s top teams, including Olympic and World Championship medalists, all competing for the prestigious season-ending title.

Tournament Format

• The 10 teams are divided into two round-robin pools of five.
• The pool winners advance directly to the semifinals.
• The second and third-placed teams will face off in the quarterfinals.
• Women’s matches start at 13:00 local time (10:00 UTC) on Wednesday.

Pool A: World Number One Leads a Fierce Group

1. Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova (Latvia 🇱🇻) – The current world number one team had a stellar 2024 season, earning gold at the Recife Challenge, silver at Stare Jablonki, and bronze at Ostrava and Gstaad Elite16. They reached the Paris 2024 Olympic quarterfinals, losing to Brazil’s Ana Patricia & Duda, but later claimed the top spot in the FIVB World Ranking.

2. Agatha Bednarczuk & Rebecca Cavalcanti (Brazil 🇧🇷) – This will be the final professional tournament for 41-year-old Agatha, a Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist and 2015 world champion. She and Rebecca earned silver at the Guadalajara Challenge this season.

3. Xue Chen & Xia Xinyi (China 🇨🇳) – The Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Xue Chen, returns with Xia Xinyi for the Finals. The duo won Challenge golds in Saquarema and Stare Jablonki before Paris 2024. Xue also won gold at the Haikou Challenge and silver at the Asian Championships with different partners.

4. Daniela Alvarez & Tania Moreno (Spain 🇪🇸) – The young Spanish pair made headlines at Paris 2024 with an impressive run, including a stunning victory over Stam & Schoon in the Round of 16. They won bronze at the Xiamen Challenge earlier this year.

5. Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson (Canada 🇨🇦) – The Paris 2024 silver medalists enter as one of the tournament’s wild-card teams. They also earned Elite16 silver medals in Doha and Ostrava this season and climbed to world number three before the Olympics.

Pool B: Olympic Contenders and Defending Champions Collide

1. Svenja Müller & Cinja Tillmann (Germany 🇩🇪) – The Paris 2024 Olympians and reigning European champions won the Vienna Elite16 and finished as runners-up at the same event earlier this year. They are currently ranked #3 in the world.

2. Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon (Netherlands 🇳🇱) – This two-time Olympic duo, former world number one team, and current #4-ranked pair claimed silver at the Tepic Elite16 and bronze at the Espinho Elite16. They’ll be looking to make a strong run in Doha.

3. Kristen Nuss & Taryn Kloth (United States 🇺🇸) – The defending Beach Pro Tour Finals champions were world number two heading into Paris 2024, riding a hot streak with gold in Espinho and Gstaad, plus silver in Brasilia. However, they suffered an early Olympic exit in the Round of 16. Doha presents a chance for redemption.

With world champions, Olympic medalists, and top-ranked teams, the Doha Finals promise world-class beach volleyball action. Can Graudina & Samoilova maintain their world number one dominance? Will Müller & Tillmann defend their European title form? Or can the defending champions Nuss & Kloth bounce back in Doha?

The battle begins on Wednesday, December 4, with the grand finale set for Saturday, December 7!