Bellos bound for the Netherlands

Javier and Joaquin Bello will compete in the CEV European Championships this week, spanning three cities in the Netherlands. Their first match is against Spain's Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira.

The brothers will aim to replicate their impressive run from last year in Vienna, where they reached the quarterfinals and finished in fifth place—the best result ever achieved by a British pairing. This year, seeded 18th, they are determined to push even deeper into the competition and achieve another historic milestone.

They faced the same pair in their opening game of the competition in Austria with a narrow defeat to the Spanish pair (24-22, 21-18). However, they will look to turn the result around this time out. The Spanish pair go into the competition as the 15th seed.

The Bellos made it into the next round last year after a convincing display against Leitner and Pascariuc from Austria which saw them take the match 2-0 ( 21-14, 21-16). 

Their second match on Thursday (15th August) will be against the Italian pair of Marchetto and Windisch. The Italian pair are the second seed in the competition.

The Italian pair replaces the Norwegian duo Mol and Sorum, who finished third in the Paris Olympics and have since withdrawn from the competition.

Adding to the intensity, Olympic gold medalists Åhman and Hellvig from Sweden are also in the competition as the number one seeds, aiming to replicate their success from last year.

Their last match will be on Friday with their eyes set on a place in the knockout rounds. They will face the Austrian pair of Schnetzer and Kindl. 

Reflecting on last year’s success and the upcoming challenge, the Bellos shared their excitement:

“We are really excited for another European Championship. We had a great tournament last year and of course, we want to take another step further.”

“We are lucky to have our family and friends travelling over to support us, which will make it even more special. The venues look fantastic and we are ready to give our best!”

The brothers recently achieved their highest world ranking of 22 and are hopeful that this year’s competition will bring them further success, despite the formidable presence of Olympic gold and silver medalists.

All games can be viewed on EuroVolleyTV. 

Follow our socials to keep up to date with the brothers progress at the 2024 European Championships. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.