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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 28, 2023) – The final beach update of November recaps the last Elite 16 event of the season before the finals in Qatar. We preview the challenge event in the Philippines this weekend where several U.S. teams are prepared to hit the sand, and we check in on the latest Olympic rankings.
Elite 16 João Pessoa
Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth placed fourth at Elite 16 João Pessoa in Brazil after falling to China’s Xue /X. Y. Xia in the bronze-medal match.
After earning an automatic bid to the quarterfinals in pool play, Kloth and Nuss defeated Placette/Richard (FRA) in the quarterfinals but lost to Carol/Barbara (BRA) 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 15-11) in the semifinals. Carol/Barbara finished as silver medalists, losing to world No. 1 Ana Patricia/Duda (BRA).
In the men’s bracket, Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner finished tied for 13th. The duo went 1-2 in pool play, defeating world No. 12 Evandro/Arthur and losing to world No. 13 Cherif/Ahamed (QAT) and world No. 9. Cottafava/Nicolai (ITA). Cottafava/Nicolai finished second after losing to world No. 2 Ahman/Hellvig (SWE) in the final.
Challenge Nuvali, Philippines
Challenge Nuvali is the final challenge event on the BPT calendar for 2023. The U.S. will have eight women’s teams and one men’s team competing. The event runs from Nov. 30-Dec. 3.
Chase Budinger and Miles Evans are the lone men’s team. The duo is on a hot streak after taking gold at Challenge Haikou and following that up with bronze at Challenge Chiang Mai. They will look to make it three medals in a row in Nuvali.
Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft are the only women’s pair automatically in the main draw.
Starting in qualification, the U.S. has Kennedy Coakley/Brooke Sweat, Corinne Quiggle/Sarah Murphy, Hailey Harward/Toni Rodriguez, and Teegan Van Gunst/Kim Hildreth
Carly Kan/Katie Horton, Lydia Smith/Jade Race, and Janet Kalaniuvalu/Seyvion Waggoner are all currently on reserve status.
Rankings
In the final rankings check of November, the world and provisional ranking list sees a hotly contested top-25.
World champions Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes are now tied for No. 2 overall in the women’s world rankings with 8,280 points. Sharing the No. 2 spot are Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who now have 8,280 points with one more tournament played. Both pairs remain behind world No. 1 and Pan American Games gold medalists Ana Patricia/Duda (BRA), who have 9,540 points. Hughes and Cheng have not competed since taking the gold at the 2023 Beach World Championships.
Provisional Olympic rankings have Kloth/Nuss with 10, 260 points and 12 tournaments played, sharing the first position with Ana Patricia/Duda. Carol/Barbara (BRA) are No. 2 with 9,640 points. Cheng/Hughes are in the provisional Olympic No. 3 spot with 9,040 points, as well as the W designating a quota place obtained for winning the 2023 World Championship.
Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint are world No. 10 with 6,200 points. They are tied for No. 7 in provisional Olympic rankings with 6,740 points.
In the men’s rankings, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh are world No. 4 with 6,900 points. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) remain world No. 1 with 8,860 points.
Partain/Benesh are currently in a three-way tie for No. 8 in the provisional Olympic rankings with the same 6,900 points on eight tournaments played.
Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner remain at world No. 16 with 5,400 points this week. They are one of the teams now tied with Partain/Benesh in the provisional Olympic rankings, also claiming the No. 8 position with 6,920 points.
Miles Evans/Chase Budinger are at No. 21 in the world rankings, tied with Grimalt/Grimalt of Chile. Evans/Budinger are tied for No. 12 in the provisional Olympic rankings with 6,100 points.
Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk remain inside the top-25 world rankings at No. 24 with 4,760 points. They are now ranked even with Evans/Budinger with a claim to the No. 11 spot in the provisional Olympic rankings with 6,080 points.
Current World Rankings – Women
This edition of the beach update reviews the results of Challenge Chiang Mai in Thailand that saw the U.S. earn more hardware at a Beach Pro Tour event. We also look ahead to the Jao Pessoa Elite 16 and the Geelong Future which are both set to begin on Wednesday.
In this week's beach update, we look to BPT Challenge Chiang Mai that will feature several U.S. Beach National Teams. This comes after U.S. pairs competed in NORCECA Playoff 4 in in Manhattan Beach this past weekend to earn Olympic points. We also have results from the U.S. pairs who were competing at the U21 Beach World Championships, and we check in on the most current Olympic rankings.
The 2023 FIVB Beach Pro Tour resumes in China this weekend with Challenge Haikou. The U.S. will send a total of seven teams as pairs look to improve their standing in the Olympic rankings before the end of the season.
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