Olympic qualification process 2020

[guest2]

BTW Donnyw agrees with me on all this. (Or at least Kerri does so ...you know)

[beachking]

I agree with all of the above, when people wonder why beach volleyball $ and interest is so much less now than it was in its heyday, look no further than the FIVB and the Olympics. We sold our soul to the devil.

[wang pu]

Jun 27, 2018 3:29:46 GMT -5 guest2 said:

Jun 27, 2018 2:13:32 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

I'm not quite sure if this is sarcasm but I am definitely excited for the Olympic qualification process. :-) It just makes the big tournaments during that time frame that much more important. This season it looks like nobody really cares that much about the tournaments - starting from September the tension will be much higher.

Definitely sarcasm. I hate the effect the Olympics has had on the sport. As you mentioned, many players now treat most events, unless they have Olympic relevance, as minor and that prevents the sport from building tradition, rivalries etc. For many players its all they care about and all other tournaments become a little too similar to regular season NBA

The Olympics themselves are a lousy tournament, weaker than most majors and the spread out format is a nuisance to fans.

It also holds teams together that should break up. Its why you see so many teams split right after the Olympics, because they should have broken up long before. Partner splits and the acrimony, rivalry etc. that flow from them are one of the most exciting things about the sport. How awesome was the environment the first time Sinjin played Randy or Kent/Verb beat Kiraly/Fro after Karch dumped Kent. The next time Alison/Bruno face off or Evandro/Andre those matches will have added resonance for the same reasons. With the Olympics you get Brooke/Lauren staying together despite 18 straight 25th place finishes.

Finally it lets the international tours bludgeon domestic tours like the AVP. As we have seen this year, if the Olympics arent in play the best players will prioritize the AVP.

I feel that the Olympic Qualification is more exciting than the Olympics itself,especially when who goes is determined at the last few tourneys. I think in 2008, was between Kessy/Ross and Branagh/Youngs and in 2016 between Hyden/Bourne and Gibb/Patterson.

[donnyw]

Jun 27, 2018 17:41:22 GMT -5 wang pu said:

Jun 27, 2018 3:29:46 GMT -5 guest2 said:

Definitely sarcasm. I hate the effect the Olympics has had on the sport. As you mentioned, many players now treat most events, unless they have Olympic relevance, as minor and that prevents the sport from building tradition, rivalries etc. For many players its all they care about and all other tournaments become a little too similar to regular season NBA

The Olympics themselves are a lousy tournament, weaker than most majors and the spread out format is a nuisance to fans.

It also holds teams together that should break up. Its why you see so many teams split right after the Olympics, because they should have broken up long before. Partner splits and the acrimony, rivalry etc. that flow from them are one of the most exciting things about the sport. How awesome was the environment the first time Sinjin played Randy or Kent/Verb beat Kiraly/Fro after Karch dumped Kent. The next time Alison/Bruno face off or Evandro/Andre those matches will have added resonance for the same reasons. With the Olympics you get Brooke/Lauren staying together despite 18 straight 25th place finishes.

Finally it lets the international tours bludgeon domestic tours like the AVP. As we have seen this year, if the Olympics arent in play the best players will prioritize the AVP.

I feel that the Olympic Qualification is more exciting than the Olympics itself,especially when who goes is determined at the last few tourneys. I think in 2008, was between Kessy/Ross and Branagh/Youngs and in 2016 between Hyden/Bourne and Gibb/Patterson.

I am very excited to watch how the qualification process plays out..Everyone has their own favorite players & teams & ideas on how it will all work out. Will be interesting to see if who we think are going & who actually goes are the same..I think we are in for a surprise or two...

[wilsu]

Jun 25, 2018 9:08:28 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

2 - FIVB Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament (new tournament - best 16 teams based on world ranking on 31/12/2018 - only one team per country - will be played in 2019)

It was in news that China will host the Olympic qualification tournament, but I didn't notice anything about limitation to one team per country taking part in this tournament. Didn't find it in the memo you linked either. Can you point where this info is from? Thanks.

[acrossthepond]

I think I got the information from here. However it may be outdated in the meantime?! I don't really know since I didn't find anything else about this tournament.

www.fivb.com/en/boardofadmin/news/board-discusses-olympic-qualification-process-for-tokyo?id=67373

[tamz]

www.fivb.com/en/about/news/china-to-host-beach-volleyball-olympic-qualifier?id=80141

Who: 16 teams per gender (1 team per gender from China)
What: Rankings based after Gstaad 5* event in 2019
When: Sept. 18-22, 2019
Where: City to be determined in China
Why: To earn a place for their confederation per gender

Honestly this qualifier is pretty confusing...

Read more: volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/75880/china-beach-volleyball-olympics-qualifier#ixzz5YjkZEG89

[acrossthepond]

I found that too. However it doesn't touch any limitations at all. I guess that there might be a rule to prevent 15 Brazilian and 1 Chinese team (theoretically) to take part in that tournament.

[tamz]

Dec 5, 2018 6:28:37 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

I found that too. However it doesn't touch any limitations at all. I guess that there might be a rule to prevent 15 Brazilian and 1 Chinese team (theoretically) to take part in that tournament.

I'm seeing this as another opportunity to get direct entry after the World Champs.

[acrossthepond]

Jun 25, 2018 9:25:02 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

I also started predicting who will eventually qualify for 2020 and this is the list I came up with:

Tier 1 - Sure Locks:
1 Brazil 1
2 Brazil 2
3 Dalhausser
4 Kantor/Losiak
5 Brouwer/Meeuwsen
6 Smedins/Samoilovs
7 Herrera/Gavira
8 Nicolai/Lupo
9 Russia 1 (out of Stoyanovski/Velichko, Krasilnikov/Liamin and Semenov/Leshukov)
10 Russia 2

Tier 2 - Surprise if they don't qualify

11 Doppler/Horst
12 Plavins/Tocs
13 Mol/Sorum
14 Bouter/Varenhorst
15 USA 2

Tier 3 - In contention until the end

16 Pedlow/Schachter
17 Perusic/Schweiner
18 Poland 2 (Fijalek/Bryl or Prudel/Szalankiewic)
Beeler/Krattiger
Saxton / O'Gorman
Böckermann/Flüggen
Virgen/Ontiveros
Gonzalez/Nivaldo
Ranghieri/Caminati

Tier 4 - Could qualify if they take the next step

Cherif/Ahmed Tijan
Heidrich/Gerson
Koekelkoren/ van Walle
Ehlers/Schümann
Kolaric/Basta
Thole/Wickler

Things have changed since last season, so I'll modify this list based on last years results:


Tier 1 - Sure Locks:

1 Mol/Sorum
2 Stoyanovsky/Krasilnikov
3 Dalhausser/Lucena
4 Fijalek/Bryl
5 Brouwer/Meeuwsen
6 Brazil 1
7 Smedins/Samoilovs
8 Kantor/Losiak
9 Nicolai/Lupo
10 Brazil 2
11 Herrera/Gavira

Tier 2 - Surprise if they don't qualify

12 Grimalt/Grimalt
13 Thole/Wickler
14 Cherif/Ahmed Tijan
15 USA 2

Tier 3 - In contention until the end

16 Plavins/Tocs
17 Doppler/Horst
18 Pedlow/Schachter
Perusic/Schweiner
Saxton / O'Gorman
Virgen/Ontiveros (I don't know what happened to them)
Gonzalez/Nivaldo (I don't know what happened to them)
RUS 2 (Whatever happened to Semenov/Leshukov, otherwise Liamin/Velichko or Samoday/Myskiv have a shot)

Tier 4 - Could qualify if they take the next step

Beeler/Krattiger
Seidl/Waller
Ranghieri/Caminati
Rossi/Carambula
Heidrich/Gerson
Koekelkoren/ van Walle
Krou/Rowlandson (I don't know how hurt Krou is)
Varenhorst/van de Velde
Bergmann/Harms

If anybody outside this list would qualify via Olympic Rankings, WCH or Olympic Qualification Tournament I'd be stunned.

[tamz]

acrossthepond

Are you going to do a predicted list for the women’s side?

[acrossthepond]

Women's predictions (although I'm not following it as closely as Men's BV)

Tier 1 - Sure Locks:

1 Brazil 1 (Hard to predict which teams... Agatha/Duda, Barbara/Fernanda?, Ana Patrícia/Rebecca?)
2 Brazil 2
3 USA 1 (Ross/Klineman)
4 USA 2 (Hughes/Summer, Sponcil/Claes?, Flint/Day?, Walsh? who really knows...)
5 Germany 1 (Ludwig/Kozuch)
6 Germany 2 (Borger/Sude?, Ittlinger/Laboureur?, Bieneck/Schneider probably not)
7 Bansley/Wilkerson
8 Pavan/Humana-Paredes
9 Hermannova/Slukova
10 Clancy/Artacho

Tier 2 - Surprise if they don't qualify

11 Keizer/Meppelink
12 Betschaft/Hüberli
13 Heidrich/Verge-Depre
14 Menegatti/Orsi Toth
15 Liliana/Elsa

Tier 3 - In contention until the end

16 Lahti/Parkinnen
17 Makroguzova/Kholomina
Murakami/Ishii (wouldn't count against the 18 teams as host nation)
18 Strbova/Dubovcova
Wojtasik/Kociolek
Some team from China (Wang/Xue or Wang/Xia - Who is Wang playing with?)
Arvaniti/Karagkouni
Ukolova/Birlova
Laird/Palmer (I guess... Lost in Q at 2* in Cambodia and won the 3* in Sidney. I have no idea what their normal playing level is)

Tier 4 - Could qualify if they take the next step

Amaranta/Lobato
Stubbe, J./van Iersel
Kravcenoka/Lece
Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig
Lehtonen/Ahtiainen


The Women's side is definitely more top heavy and (to me) it seems like there will be less chance of an upset from lower ranked teams at the Olympic Games. I might have missed one or two teams who have the potential to qualify.

Edit: It will be really, really interesting which teams will make it for USA, Brazil and Germany

Ana Patricia/Rebecca are currently Brazil's #3 based on entry points but they already have a 1st, a 2nd and a 4th at 4* tournaments counting for the Olympic Rankings, so they already have very good resuts for the best 12 tournaments of the qualification period.

As for USA: Klineman/Ross have won and have a 4th at a 4*, Sponcil/Claes have a 2nd at a 4*, Summer/Hughes a 3rd at a 4*. Sponcil/Claes currently have the problem that they currently rank #4 in entry points and therefore will have to play Qualification and Country Quota (if all USA teams sign up)

As for Germany: Let's wait and see which teams come out strongest after all those partner switches.

[tamz]

I agree. Between Brazil, Germany, and USA, it’s hard to tell which team are sure locks at the moment.

Brazil also has Carol S./Maria A.

Heard Tina Guardina and partner are good too for Latvia.

It’s going to be one exciting summer!

[acrossthepond]

Apr 9, 2019 2:30:07 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

Jun 25, 2018 9:25:02 GMT -5 acrossthepond said:

Tier 1 - Sure Locks:

1 Mol/Sorum
2 Stoyanovsky/Krasilnikov
3 Dalhausser/Lucena
4 Fijalek/Bryl
5 Brouwer/Meeuwsen
6 Brazil 1
7 Smedins/Samoilovs
8 Kantor/Losiak
9 Nicolai/Lupo
10 Brazil 2
11 Herrera/Gavira

Tier 2 - Surprise if they don't qualify

12 Grimalt/Grimalt
13 Thole/Wickler
14 Cherif/Ahmed Tijan
15 USA 2

Tier 3 - In contention until the end

16 Plavins/Tocs
17 Doppler/Horst
18 Pedlow/Schachter
Perusic/Schweiner
Saxton / O'Gorman
Virgen/Ontiveros (I don't know what happened to them)
Gonzalez/Nivaldo (I don't know what happened to them)
RUS 2 (Whatever happened to Semenov/Leshukov, otherwise Liamin/Velichko or Samoday/Myskiv have a shot)

Tier 4 - Could qualify if they take the next step

Beeler/Krattiger
Seidl/Waller
Ranghieri/Caminati
Rossi/Carambula
Heidrich/Gerson
Koekelkoren/ van Walle
Krou/Rowlandson (I don't know how hurt Krou is)
Varenhorst/van de Velde
Bergmann/Harms

If anybody outside this list would qualify via Olympic Rankings, WCH or Olympic Qualification Tournament I'd be stunned.

Since a bunch of 4* events has been played over the last few weeks, I thought I'd update my list. Some things have been getting clearer, although nothing is written in stone yet as the World Championship and the 5* events can create a major shift in rankings. My ranking is not based on points, but likelihood of qualifying (my subject view) 

Tier 1 - Olympic Favorites (Points - Tournaments - Avg. Points):

1 Mol/Sorum (4880 - 7 - 697)
2 Stoyanovsky/Krasilnikov (4960 - 8 - 620)
3 Semenov/Leshukov (2480 - 4 - 620)
4 Evandro/Bruno (3040 - 6 - 506)
5 Fijalek/Bryl (3520 - 6 - 586)
6 Herrera/Gavira (3200 - 6 - 533)

Tier 1.5 - Almost Locks:
7 Dalhausser/Lucena (1760 - 4 - 440)
8 Kantor/Losiak (1920 - 4 - 480)
9 Nicolai/Lupo (1440 - 3 - 480)
10 Alison/Alvaro (2680 - 6 - 446)
11 Thole/Wickler (2640 - 6 - 440)

Tier 2 - Surprise if they don't qualify
12 Grimalt/Grimalt (3320 - 7 - 474)
13 Cherif/Ahmed Tijan (3240 - 8 - 405)
14 Crabb/Bourne (3160 - 7 - 451)
15 Pedlow/Schachter (3020 - 7 - 431)

Tier 3 - In contention
16 Brouwer/Meeuwsen (2480 - 6 - 413)
17 Plavins/Tocs  (2880 - 7 - 411)
18 Smedins/Samoilovs (2160 - 6 - 360)
Perusic/Schweiner (2560 - 6 - 426)
Koekelkoren/ van Walle (1200 - 3 - 400)
Rossi/Carambula (1840 - 5 - 368)

Tier 4 - Uphill battle
Doppler/Horst (2120 - 7 - 302)
Seidl/Waller (2600 - 8 - 325)
Saxton / O'Gorman (2120 - 7 - 302)
Heidrich/Gerson (2000 - 6 - 333)
Varenhorst/van de Velde (1520 - 5 - 304)
Bergmann/Harms (2580 - 8 - 322)

Not on the list due to country restrictions:
Liamin/Myskiv (1280 - 3 - 426)
Gibb/Crabb (1240 - 3 - 413)
Guto/Saymon (2000 - 5 - 400)
Andro/George (2300 - 6 - 383)
Brunner/Priddy (2120 - 6 - 353)

Off the list
Ranghieri/Caminati (1380 - 6 - 230)
Virgen/Ontiveros (960 - 3 - 320) 
Gonzalez/Reyes (40 - 1 - 40)
Krou/Rowlandson (1340 - 5 - 268)
Beeler/Krattiger (1020 - 5 - 204)

What's to consider?
- At this point many teams have 1 or 2 bad results (Cherif/Ahmed, Carambula/Rossi) which severely drop their average points per tournament. Other teams (Grimalt/Grimalt, Perusic/Schweiner) have one or two massive results which make them seem more secure than they maybe really are.

- These 18 spots already include the 1 spot for the World Champions and the 2 spots awarded in the Olympic Qualification tournament since most probable teams from the Top 15 will win those events. This means that those spots will be added to the official 15 spots via Olympic Ranking.

- Teams that have not played many tournaments so far will have to watch out to get enough tournaments until June 2020. 12 tournaments will be counted, but if you want to even out a few bad results teams should have played at least 15 tournaments (4*, 5* WCs). This could be a challenge for e.g. Lucena/Dalhausser, Gibb/Crabb, Kantor/Losiak, Nicolai/Lupo or Koekelkoren/Van Walle

[tamz]

Gibb/Crabb skipped the last few in speculation to keep their points from Gstaad and Vienna so they only have 3 events under their belts. Are they planning to go to Moscow while other teams will choose to stay at home and play AVP MBO??