Lausanne, Switzerland, March 30, 2018 – Christiaan Varenhorst is becoming used to starting over with a new partner at the beginning of the year, and 2018 is no exception as he takes his first steps in partnership with Jasper Bouter.
The Dutch pair are due to play in the 4-Star FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament in Xiamen that will run from April 18-22. They go into the tournament having won silver at the 1-Star tournament in Aalsmeer in March, their first as a pair.
“Of course it’s difficult to handle making the basic adjustments and structuring our team to play,” Varenhorst told
beachmajorseries.com. “But we have a really good coaching staff, which is helping us a lot and I believe we’ll be very competitive soon. I’m happy with the progress we are making.”
Varenhorst enjoyed his best seasons from 2014 to 2016 when he was in partnership with Reinder Nummerdor. They won silver at the Netherlands 2015, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and three gold on the World Tour.
The duo reached the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinals after which Nummerdor retired, so in 2017 Varenhorst teamed up with Dutch volleyball international Maarten van Garderen.
They finished fourth at the Vienna 2017 World Championships, but at the end of the year van Garderen returned to volleyball and so the 2.10m-tall Varenhorst turned to Bouter.
At 21 Bouter is quickly gaining international experience and though he has played in five World Tour events, Varenhorst is looking forward to solidifying their partnership, with qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games their eventual goal.
“I'm really excited to play with Jasper,” he said. “He is a very talented player and made a huge step forward last year despite being injured.
“I saw what he’s capable of and we can be a good block-defense team. I don’t think we are able to compete with the best right away, but we are moving forward really fast and a lot can happen in a short time.”