Consecutive BPT podiums for Bellos after third place finish in Nuvali

After a two-week break from competitive action, following their sensational Elite16 victory in Brazil, the English duo were back on the sand looking to pick up further ranking points and prize money – and did both. 

Qualifying automatically into the main draw as top seeds, the brothers cruised through Pool A, topping it with straight sets victories over Alnakran Abdillah and Lerry Francisco from the host nation (21-9, 21-16) and Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc of Austria (21-11, 21-19). 

In the round of 12, the world number 17-ranked Bellos beat Leon Luini and Ruben Penninga 21-18, 21-19 with another assured display to book their semi-final spot. 

However, it was not to be in the quest for back-to-back tour titles as Paul Henning and Lui Wust of Germany won their last four meeting 21-18, 23-21 in what was a tight battle throughout. 

The London-based Bellos did not let that disappointment get to them and they came back strongly to clinch a place on the podium by edging out Waller and Hammarberg in three sets (21-18, 17-21, 15-12), a success that saw them net 720 ranking points and 7,000 dollars. 

The brothers now look forward to the Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha this coming week (Wednesday to Saturday). 

This week will also see fellow British players Anaya Evans and Katie Keefe compete in the BPT Futures event in Pompano Beach, USA, the country where they are currently based. 

They go straight into the main draw, which starts on Friday. 

Image courtesy of Beach Volleyball World

Don’t forget you can follow all the Beach Pro Tour action live on VBTV, with Volleyball England members able to claim a 10% discount on a subscription using the promotional code ‘VBENG10.’