This week in Udon Thani, Thailand the future stars of beach volleyball take center stage at the Under 21 World Championships. Today you may not know the names of the players competing, but I promise you that you will very soon. I can say that because history has proven that to be true again and again. Just a glance at the top four finishers throughout history of this event shows how many of today’s top players succeeded at the U21 Worlds.

Cuba gets a big block on Mexico at the Under 21 World Championships. The future is on display in Thailand this week. Photo by FIVB.

While you’d expect to see young superstars like Duda Lisboa, Ana Patricia Ramos, Christian Sorum and Anders Mol on this list, many of the world tour’s established veterans got a taste of international success at the under 21 World Championships. Did you know that the first year the FIVB staged the event in 2001, the silver medalist was a young Spaniard named Pablo Herrera? The next year he took gold. Or did you know that that siblings Carolina Solberg Salgado and Pedro both finished in the top 4 four times between 2003 and 2006, including two golds for each of them? Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Łosiak have been partnering together since they were kids, winning a silver and a gold in 2011 and 2012.

A dizzying number of players that tasted success in the under 21s level will be competing in Hamburg. Most now play with different partner than they played with at the U21 level. Some notable exception on the female side include 2012 bronze medalists Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy who won in Warsaw and are ready to make a deep run at the World Championships. Other pairs that played together in the U21 event and are playing together in Hamburg next week include Americans Sara Hughes and Summer Ross (2012 U21 4th place), Canadian twin sisters Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara (2016 U21 bronze medalists) and Russian pair Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina (2017 U21 silver medalists).

It will be more common to see successful U21 partnerships on different teams in Hamburg. That will create some interesting matchups between players that know each other very well if the knockout stage draw works out that way. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Ana Patricia and her new partner Rebecca Cavalcanti (a U21 silver medalist in 2012) play against Duda and Agatha in the gold medal match. Other youth pairs that may end up on the opposite side of the net in Hamburg and indeed frequently play against each other on the World tour include: Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Pedro and Bruno, Vitor Felipe and Álvaro Filho, Carolina Solberg Salgado and Taiana Lima, Victoria Bieneck and Chantal Laboureur, Nina Betschart and Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes.

Russia battles Brazil at the net in a match up that we may be watching again at the Olympics many years from now. Photo by FIVB.

Not every player that tasted success at an under 21 world championships went on to enjoy a successful professional career, so it is impossible to say which of the teams from this years event will be the stars of the future. However, it is safe to say that many of those dominating the court in Thailand this week will be featured on the Beach Volley Blog for years to come.

The table below shows the players that finished in the top 4 of an under 21 World Championship that are competing in the Hamburg World Championships starting next week. I think you’ll agree it is a very impressive list.

Pablo Herrera (ESP) Gold 2002, Silver 2001 Taiana Lima (BRA) Gold 2002 & 2004 Pedro Solberg Salgado (BRA) Gold 2003 & 2006, Bronze 2004, 4th 2005 Carolina Solberg Salgado (BRA) Gold 2004 & 2005, Bronze 2003,4th 2006 Marleen van Iersel (NED) Gold 2008, Bronze 2006 & 2007, 4th 2004 Mārtiņš Pļaviņš (LAT) Gold 2005 Aleksandrs Samoilovs (LAT) Gold 2005 Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA) Gold 2006 Jānis Šmēdiņš (LAT) 4th 2006 Bárbara Seixas (BRA) Gold 2006 Julia Sude (GER) Silver 2006 Paolo Nicolai (ITA) Gold 2007 & 2008 Adrián Gavira (ESP) Silver 2007 Becchara Palmer (AUS) Silver 2007 Alexander Brouwer (NED) Silver 2008 Alexander Walkenhorst (GER) 4th 2008 Vitor Felipe (BRA) Silver 2009 & 2010, Bronze 2001 Álvaro Morais Filho (BRA) Silver 2009 & 2010 Barbora Hermannová (CZE) 4th 2009 Summer Ross (USA) Gold 2010, 4th 2012 Victoria Bieneck (GER) 4th 2010 Chantal Laboureur (GER) 4th 2010 Piotr Kantor (POL) Gold 2012, Silver 2011 Bartosz Łosiak (POL) Gold 2012, Silver 2011 Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN) Silver 2011 Nina Betschart (SUI) Gold 2012 Anouk Vergé-Dépré (SUI) Gold 2012 Rebecca Cavalcanti (BRA) Silver 2012 Mariafe Artacho (AUS) Bronze 2012 Taliqua Clancy (AUS) Bronze 2012 Sara Hughes (USA) Bronze 2014, 4th 2012 Grant O'Gorman (CAN) Silver 2013 Jagoda Gruszczynska (POL) Gold 2013 Michal Bryl (POL) Gold 2014 Christian Sørum (NOR) 4th 2014 Kelly Claes (USA) Bronze 2014 Nina Betschart (SUI) 4th 2014 George Wanderley (BRA) Gold 2016 Tigrito Gómez (VEN) Bronze 2016 Anders Mol (NOR) 4th 2016 Ana Patrícia Ramos (BRA) Gold 2016, 2017 Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa (BRA) Gold 2016, 2017 Nadezda Makroguzova (RUS) Silver 2016 Megan McNamara (CAN) Bronze 2016 Nicole McNamara (CAN) Bronze 2016 Sarah Sponcil (USA) 4th 2016 Nadezda Makroguzova (RUS) Silver 2017 Svetlana Kholomina (RUS) Silver 2017 Gaia Traballi (ITA) 4th 2017

Information adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_Beach_Volleyball_U21_World_Championships