In the last post, we saw that winning The World Championship Tournament is the first path to the beach volleyball Olympics. That tournament has been around since 1997 and has tons of exciting history. Today I’ll tell you what I’ve learned about the second pathway to the Tokyo, the Olympic Qualification Tournament.



Pathway Number 2 – Finish in the top 2 of the Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Laura Ludwig, Kira Walkenhorst, Ágatha Bednarczuk, Bárbara Seixas, April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings on the podium at the Rio Olympics. Photo by Fernando Frazão / Agência Brasil and used under creative commons. http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/rio-2016/foto/2016-08/alemas-levam-ouro-no-volei-de-praia-em-copacabana?id=66749

Next September in Haiyang, China, two teams of each gender will book a place at the Tokyo Olympics through the Olympic Qualification Tournament. So, what exactly is the Olympic Qualification Tournament?

The Olympic Qualification Tournament is new for the 2020 quad and will be different from typical FIVB tournaments in several ways.

The first difference is that the field will be much smaller. There will only be 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams fighting it out in China. Compare that to large World Tour tournaments where there can be nearly 60 teams of each gender.

The second difference is that teams aren’t playing for prize money (at least not that has been announced yet) or FIVB Ranking Points. The only prize on offer in China next September is two places in the Olympics. That means the winners of both semifinal matches will be on their way to Japan in 2020. Finishing third overall in Haiyang may be the most frustrating result in professional beach volleyball. Usually losing a semifinal is a good result in terms of prize money and tour points but this time 3rd place finishers will walk away with nothing to show for some very good results against the top teams in the world.

Difference number three is that only one team per country will be invited to the Olympic Qualification Tournament. China gets a place as the hosts of this tournament in addition to the top 15 ranked teams in each gender as of the July 16th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings. Since it is almost certain that some countries will have more than one team in the top 15 and they are only allowed to send one, the next nation in the rankings will be included. Also, the pairs that win the World Championships in June aren’t allowed to play in this tournament because they’ve already got their spot in Tokyo. However, a second team from the World Championship winning country can play in this tournament. If they finish in the top two, that country will already have a complete lineup for Tokyo.

Those differences will definitely make this a unique event, but it is the format of this tournament that is most different of all. At a typical FIVB World Tour event there is a qualifying stage where one loss sends you home, a modified pool play stage where 1/4 of the remaining teams get eliminated and then the knockout bracket stage where half the field is eliminated every round. In contrast, the Olympic Qualification Tournament will be all about pool play. It consists of three separate pool play phases. In each pool, one or two teams will be eliminated, and the rest get to move on as the 16-team field gets narrowed down phase by phase until there are four semifinalists.

If you follow indoor volleyball, you probably recognize this structure from major indoor tournament formats. There is a larger margin for error in this type of tournament. You can have a bad match and finish second or third in your group and still continue to the next round. I guess no one will be able to blame a poor finish on an unlucky draw.

The last difference is that the event description doesn’t even mention a championship match. Since both semi final winners will have achieved their goal of qualifying for Tokyo and there is no prize money or points on the line, maybe there won’t be one. That being said, it would be strange to have such a high-profile event end without a winning team. I’ll let you know if the FIVB makes any more announcements about how they will wrap up this new tournament and if there will be cash prizes after all.

That’s all I could find on pathway number 2. I’m curious how the format with multiple pools will translate to the beach. I wonder if it will impact strategies at all. It will be a fascinating to find out.

Next up is the the pathway that will be the most fun to follow on the Beach Volley Blog, the Olympic Rankings.