Beach Volleyball fans poised to follow last stage of #RoadtoTokyo journey

The race for the very last tickets available to fly to Tokyo and contest the Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament will get underway on Wednesday as early as at 8 am in The Hague with the first set of women’s matches – followed later in the day by the Round of 16 of the men’s competition. Only the eventual winners of the event in The Hague will secure a spot for their National Federation / NOC to compete at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Continental Cup is truly unique since two teams per country join forces to pursue their Olympic dream. Therefore, every match counts and surprises are always around the corner. Top-seeds and hosts the Netherlands will start their journey on Wednesday late afternoon / evening when they play Estonia in the women’s as well as in the men’s competition.

Following completion of the Round of 16, the tournament will continue on Thursday and Friday with the quarterfinals and semis, respectively, before reaching its climax on Saturday with the winner-takes-all final matches.

The Netherlands and Austria won the women’s and men’s event back in 2016 in Stavanger, Norway, to qualify one team for the Rio Olympics. They are back in contention this time around as well, but they will find plenty of high-quality teams sharing the same determination to secure the achievement of their Olympic dream.

Among a number of former EuroBeachVolley medal winners, the entries for the Continental Cup Final include Erika Nyström, who claimed a historic bronze for Finland with twin sister Emilia back in 2010 when the continental championship took place in Berlin. After moving to Cyprus and marrying there, Nyström decided to switch allegiance and will represent Cyprus in The Hague, playing alongside youngster Daria Gusarova, with whom she finished fourth at a 1-Star event held this past May in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Outsiders Cyprus will play Russia on Wednesday early morning, with Nyström/Gusarova due to open the programme of this tie against Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Rudykh. On Wednesday, the reigning Snow Volleyball European champions, Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte, now competing as Paulikiene, will take to the iconic centre court in The Hague – but with different partners though, as Lithuania play Greece for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Check the full schedule here and make sure you follow the matches on the CEV’s YouTube channel, with live streaming available from all three courts!