Nanjing, China, July 13, 2018 – The latest achievements of Brothers Javier and Joaquin Bello in the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships are helping to raise the profile of beach volleyball in England.
The brothers are showing great on-court chemistry and have recorded three victories in the tournament so far, dropping only one match in the pool play round to face Italy’s Di Silvestre A/Marchetto in the Round of 16.
“We appreciate having each other. We know each other really well and we connect really well on the court,” Javier said.
“We are really enjoying the tournament. It is our first time ever in China and in Asia. We are grateful that we are able to represent England and bring it up to being one of the best in the world."
“For us it’s just to raise the profile of beach volleyball in England and to be able to compete in worldwide competitions like the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and the Youth Olympic Games,” Joaquin added.
The duo claimed a magnificent gold medal win at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas last year and is on the rise with their qualification to the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They also saw action recently at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Anapa 1-star in Russia.
“We have played in some senior-level events like World Tour 1-star events in Europe,” Joaquin said. “We just want to keep going and have fun playing beach volleyball and see how far we can make it.”
“For this year, we have a main goal of the Youth Olympics in October and in the long-term, we hope to continue competing.”
Javier and Joaquin’s success provides the pair with a bright outlook on the future and highlights the thriving beach volleyball community in their country.
“Beach volleyball is growing and now there’s a UK Beach Tour emerging. A lot of new players coming in and the community is growing,” Javier explained. There are really a lot of connected people who are really driving the sport.”
Quick links - Beach volleyball:
FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships