In less than a month, the global beach volleyball top will be on Jaarbeursplein to compete for the coveted title in the first tournament since the corona crisis: the Kings and Queens of the Court! Ticket sales are booming, make sure you buy your skybox quickly if you want to be there. The draw has resulted in a wonderful composition of the groups in the first phase. Below you can see when and against whom your favorite teams will compete.
In both the men's and women's tournaments, twenty teams compete for the reign in beach volleyball country. On Wednesday and Thursday, four groups in both genders compete for a place in the group stage. Fifteen teams will be able to play in the group stage. Based on their place on the world ranking, the following group classification has been established.
Men
The international super couple that has won tournament after tournament in the last two years leads the rankings. The Norwegian Beach Volley Vikings Anders Mol and Christian Sørum headline Pool C. The two-time European champions with numerous World Tour tournaments to their name will play two Dutch teams; Varenhorst/Van de Velde and a wildcard team. The Czechs Perusic / Schweiner are outsiders in the group, the Polish duo Kantor / Losiak is the former number 1 in the world.
The Dutch power couple Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen meet a very diverse group. Sven Vismans and Tom van Steenis form the Dutch opposition in the group, the Latvians Plavins / Tocs, the Chilean cousins Grimalt / Grimalt and the Canadian duo Saxton / O'Gorman complete Pool B.
The winners of the 2018 King of the Court edition in Utrecht, the Spaniards Herrera / Gavira lead Group A. They will meet the Dutch duo of Jasper Bouter and Ruben Penninga and the Latvians Samoilovs / Smedins, the Belgians Koekelkoren / Van Walle and the Qatari Cherif / Ahmed. The winners of the silver at the last World Championships, the Germans Thole / Wickler, are the group head of Pool D.
Women
In the women's tournament there are also beautiful international top teams on the list of participants. Besides the Dutch European champions Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink, these are the Brazilian women Agatha and Duda. Also, the winners of the 2019 World Tour finals in Rome, Kozuch and Ludwig (GER) will be present. The reigning European champions from Latvia are also there, Graudina and Kravcenoka will compete with Keizer / Meppelink in Group D, which also consists of the American duo Larsen / Stockman, the Dutch sisters Emi and Mexime van Driel and Kubicova / Kvapilova from the Czech Republic.
In Group A we also see two Dutch duos. Marleen van Iersel will play, but it is not yet known with whom. Group A, which is led by the Swiss women Betschart and Hüberli also features Kozuch / Ludwig, the Italians Menegatti and Orsi Toth and young Dutch duo Stam / Schoon, this can be called a spectacular group.
Unique wildcards
For the first time a national championship in King of the Court will be organized in the Netherlands. Every beach volleyball player, regardless of competition level, will be able to participate. For the winners in each gender a wildcard for the international King of the Court tournament is the main prize. Next to being crowned the first Dutch Kings or Queens of the Court!
Tickets
You can buy your tickets now! Be quick, because a number of sessions are already sold out after pre-registration. Check here when your favorite team is playing and also see for which sessions skyboxes are for sale.
Travel limitations
The King of the Court program may still change if it turns out that teams cannot travel to the Netherlands. In these corona times, it is essential that the rules of governments and agencies are followed. The organization is in direct contact with the responsible authorities to ensure that the teams come safely to the Netherlands. If a team cannot be present in Utrecht, a team from the reserve list will be transferred.