Bellos relishing latest crack at CEV EuroBeachVolley

It will be the fourth time the England pair have competed in the competition, having contested the editions in Dusseldorf, Germany (2025), The Hague, The Netherlands (2024) and Vienna, Austria (2023, pictured above and below).

The London-based pair have always enjoyed this tournament ever since they secured a British best-ever fifth place finish at their first attempt. 

Now they are back to see if they can produce more magic after an encouraging return to action following an injury to Joaquin, that has included taking a silver medal in the BPT Challenge Alanya event in June. 

"We are very excited," said Javier. "It’s the biggest event of the year. 

"We know we have performed well in previous editions, so we want to continue in that tradition and get as far as possible. 

"It’s only the top European teams in this event, so it’s going to be extremely difficult from the very first match... that’s what makes the Europeans so exciting and rewarding. 

"We love the challenge of playing against the best teams in the world and Stare Jablonki in Poland is an amazing setting to host this. 

"The people here love the sport and really know it well, which we appreciate. We can’t wait to compete." 

The Bellos have prepared for the Euros in the way they know best - with a tough block of training. 

While their regular base is Barn Elms on the banks of the River Thames, they have taken the opportunity to jet out to Spain for their most recent sessions. 

That work has allowed Joaquin to continue his rehabilitation towards full fitness, having missed the early part of the year through injury. 

He said: "I feel prepared and certainly strong enough to perform well. I’ve worked very hard in training and performed well in recent tournaments. 

"We have had a couple of good runs on the Pro Tour already this year, and we spent the last week training very intensively to prepare in the best way possible. 

"We have shown the level, and we’ve done the work in preparation. Now it’s just about performing and giving our best effort to give ourselves the best chance of success." 

The Bellos have been drawn in Pool G where they will face the hosts' Łosiak and Bryl, Italy's Cottafava and Dal Corso and Switzerland's Dillinger and Flückiger. 

They will get underway tomorrow by first taking on the Italians at 3.30pm (2.30pm UK time). 

Joaquin added: "We are super-focused on the process and everything we can control, especially our preparation.  

"As always, we have to take things step by step, starting with making it out of our pool and into the knockout stages. We have the technical level and the belief to compete with every team in the competition.   

"During an event like this, you don’t want to look too far ahead. This is a huge moment and every match is like a final. We will be trying to maximise our skills and play to our strengths. 

"After the Europeans we will have time to evaluate and set a strategy for the coming months. As Olympic qualification starts in November, there will be plenty of time to close this chapter, recover and prepare for that very important final stage of the season." 

Images by CEV

You can follow all the action via the EuroBeachVolley website here or via a subscription to Euro Volley TV here.