The 12 teams already qualified for main draw of Doha Elite16 – men teams

 The 12 teams already qualified for the main draw are:

Men

Anders Mol/Christian Sorum – Norway

Cape Town

The entry list for the Elite16 in Doha is headlined by Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, who are the reigning world and Olympic champions and the number one team in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking. In addition to winning the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome in June 2022, the Norwegians topped the podium at three Elite16 events last year – in Ostrava, Paris and Cape Town. At another two Elite16 tournaments, in Rosarito and Uberlandia, they took bronze, an achievement they repeated at the 2022 CEV European Championship in Munich. At the end of the 2021 season, Mol and Sorum also won the last edition of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals in Cagliari.

Career highlights:

Reigning Olympic champions (Tokyo 2020)

1x Olympians

Reigning world champions (Rome 2022)

World Championship bronze medallists (2019)

4x European champions (Gold in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)

Bronze medallists at Rosarito (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Gold medallists at Ostrava (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite 16), Gold medallists in Paris (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Gold medallists in Cape Town (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Bronze medallists in Uberlandia (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Vitor Felipe/Renato Lima – Brazil

Renato and Vitor

One of two Brazilian teams in the Doha Elite16 Main Draw, Renato Lima and Vitor Felipe won a single medal from a major world-level tournament in 2022, but it was at the most prestigious competition, the World Championship in Rome, where they finished second.

Career highlights:

World Championship silver medallists (Rome 2022)

Beach Pro Tour participants

World Tour medallists

Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen – Netherlands

meeuwsen

Experienced Dutchmen Alexander Brouwer (33) and Robert Meeuwsen (34) were Olympic bronze medallists at Rio 2016. In their 2022 Beach Pro Tour campaign, Brouwer and Meeuwsen collected four Elite16 medals – silvers in Rosarito, Hamburg and Paris and bronze in Ostrava. In 2022, the Dutch team were number one in the world for a week in May.

Career highlights:

World champions (2013)

Olympic medallists (Bronze in 2016)

2x Olympians (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020)

European Championship bronze medallists (2017)

Silver medallists at Rosarito (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Bronze medallists at Ostrava (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Silver medallists in Hamburg (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

George Wanderley/Andre Loyola Stein – Brazil

George

Brazil’s Andre Loyola Stein and George Wanderley were on top of the World Ranking from late May until early October last year. They won two Beach Pro Tour gold medals in 2022, both of them at home, in Brazil. In addition to topping the podium at the Itapema Challenge and the Uberlandia Elite16, Andre and George took a place on the podium at the Jurmala Elite16 with bronze. They also took bronze at the World Championships in Rome.

Career highlights:

Gold medallists at Itapema (Beach Pro Tour 2022 - Challenge), Bronze medallists in Jurmala (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), World Championship bronze medallists (Rome 2022), Gold medallists in Uberlandia (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Andre : World champion (2017)

Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt – Chile

Grimalt

33-year-old Marco Grimalt and 32-year-old Esteban Grimalt will also compete at the Elite16 in Doha. In 2022, the Chilean cousins and two-time Olympians won an Elite16 gold in Gstaad. They are a very experienced side, but will make their first appearance at the Finals of the global circuit in Doha in January.

Career highlights:

2x Olympians (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020)

Gold medallists in Gstaad (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Bartosz Losiak/Michal Bryl – Poland

Bryl

In their first season together, Polish Olympians Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak topped a Beach Pro Tour podium as many as four times. In fact, every time they medalled it was to take gold. They won the inaugural event in Mexico, March’s Challenge tournament in Tlaxcala, and followed up with gold medals at the Doha Challenge, the Espinho Challenge and the Hamburg Elite16.

Career highlights:

Gold medallists in Tlaxcala (Beach Pro Tour 2022 - Challenge), Gold medallists in Doha (Beach Pro Tour 2022 - Challenge), Gold medallists in Espinho (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Gold medallists in Hamburg (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

Bryl : 1x Olympian (Tokyo 2020), World Tour medallist

Losiak: 2x Olympian (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), World Tour medallist

David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig – Sweden

ahman

The Swedish jump-setters, reigning Youth Olympic champions since 2018, who both turned 21 towards the end of 2022, had a remarkable 12 months last year. They claimed their first Beach Pro Tour medal in May by topping the podium at the Kusadasi Challenge. In August, they won their first senior European title. Then Ahman and Hellvig had a fabulous finish of their Beach Pro Tour season earning medals at the last three events they appeared at – bronze at the Maldives Challenge, gold at the Dubai 2 Challenge, and silver at the Cape Town Elite16.

Career highlights:

Youth Olympic Games gold medallists (2018)

U21 world champions (2021)

European champions 2022

Gold medallists in Kusadasi (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Bronze medallists in Maldives (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Gold medallists at Dubai2 (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Silver medallists in Cape Town (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner – Czech Republic

perusic

For Czech Olympians Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, 2022 was coloured in silver. They reached a final four times during the year, but they always had to settle for second place. Their Beach Pro Tour record includes silver medals from the Itapema Challenge, the Ostrava Elite16 and the Gstaad Elite16. The Czechs also finished second at EuroBeachVolley in Munich.

Career highlights:

1x Olympians (Tokyo 2020)

Silver medallists at Itapema (Beach Pro Tour 2022 - Challenge), Silver medallists at Ostrava (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Silver medallists at Gstaad (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan – Qatar

Cherif

The home crowd in Qatar will serve as an additional inspiration for the pairing of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists started the 2022 season as World Ranking leaders. They won the first Elite16 event on the Beach Pro Tour, in Rosarito in March. Then the Qataris added three more medals to their 2022 collection - a gold at the Maldives Challenge, a silver at the Jurmala Elite16 and a bronze at the Cape Town Elite16. They also won a continental title at the 2022 AVC Asian Championship in Bandar Abbas.

Career highlights

Bronze medallists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Gold medallists at Rosarito (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Silver medallists in Jurmala (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Gold medallists in Maldives (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Bronze medallists in Cape Town (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

World Tour medallists

Cherif: 2x Olympian (Rio 2016 & Tokyo 2020)

Ahmed: 1x Olympian (Tokyo 2020)

Paolo Nicolai/Samuele Cottafava – Italy

Nicolai

34-year-old Paolo Nicolai, a three-time Olympian and a Rio 2016 silver medallist, has been playing with Samuele Cottafava, who is 10 years younger, since the start of the 2022 season. The new Italian duo collected a full set of medals on the Beach Pro Tour - a Jurmala Elite16 gold, a Doha Challenge silver and a Paris Elite16 bronze.

Career highlights:

Silver medallists in Doha (Beach Pro Tour 2022 - Challenge), Gold medallists in Jurmala (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16), Bronze medallists in Paris (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

Nicolai: Silver medallist at Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 3x Olympian (2012, 2016, Tokyo 2020), 3x European champion (2014, 2016, 2017), 1x European Championship bronze medallist (2020), World Tour medallist

Cottafava: World Tour medallist

Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler – Germany

Ehlers and Wickler

After their partners retired from competitive beach volleyball, Nils Ehlers and Tokyo Olympian Clemens Wickler teamed up for the start of the 2022 season to become Germany’s new leading men’s pair. They appeared at six events on the inaugural Beach Pro Tour and earned two bronze medals – at the Kusadasi Challenge in Türkiye and at the Hamburg Elite16 at home in Germany.

Career highlights:

Bronze medallists in Kusadasi (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Challenge), Bronze medallists in Hamburg (Beach Pro Tour 2022 – Elite16)

Wickler: World Tour Finals silver medallist in 2019, World Championships silver medallist in 2019 (both with former partner Julius Thole), 1x Olympian (Tokyo 2020), World Tour medallist

Ehlers: World Tour medallist

Adballah Ibrahim Nassim/Assam Ahmed Mahmoud - Qatar

abdallah

Assam Ahmed Mahmoud is an experienced 35-year-old player who first appeared on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour back in 2014 and his best finish was a fifth place at the Doha 1-star in 2021. At the Doha 4-star just days later, he competed alongside Adballah Ibrahim Nassim, who is now 22 years old. For the Qatari wild card pair, the upcoming Doha Elite16 will be the second event on the global circuit together. Both of them registered two participations on the 2022 Beach Pro Tour (Doha Challenge and Sohar Futures), but with different partners.

Career highlights:

Reunited as a team in 2023

Mahmoud: Beach Pro Tour eighthfinalist, World Tour quarterfinalist