Jake Sheaf and Chris Gregory continued their efforts to put beach volleyball back onto the sports agenda in England, two years on from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The pair made it through to the Qatar Open main draw with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) win over Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Pustynnikov and Sergey Bogatu, which they hope will help continue their attempts to spread the popularity of the sport further.
During the Olympic Games beach volleyball was one of the most popular sports and 15,000 fans packed into the Horse Guard’s Parade venue in central London three times a day to watch the action.
Since then though the National Lottery funding for beach volleyball has been rescinded, but the pair have been finding new avenues to fund their beach volleyball dreams.
“It is a tricky one because UK Sport pulled the funding, but Jake and I have always shared the same ambition. We’re the same age and we’ve worked really hard to find the sponsors that we need to do it,” Gregory said.
“Balfour Beatty are our main sponsor and gave us the bulk of our budget to play the year and Nourishment Active have given us a little bit of funding towards the season and the rest of the costs we cover ourselves.
“It has been tough and financially it has been a big strain on us, but we’re really happy with the way it has gone this year. We’ve had a really successful year and I think it makes us more hungry and makes us play better.”
The pair hit their stride quickly against the Kazakhstanis and their reward is a first ever place in a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour main draw. They previously played at the Long Beach Grand Slam, but were knocked out in the second elimination round.
The pair trains at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre in south London, one of the venues around the country where sand and stadium fixtures from Horse Guard’s Parade were taken after London 2012.
Their main focus this year has been the European Tour, with a place at the inaugural Baku 2015 European Games their main aim for the next year, something which would help the sport grow further.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to come and play this tournament and we only arrived last night as we’d been playing Sweden for the weekend,” Sheaf said. “To come here and qualify for the main draw, our first international World Tour main draw, we’re over the moon.
“Beach volleyball is growing. Sometimes you have to convince them that it is a legitimate sport in England, it just we don’t have the weather for it, but we do have the facilities. UK Sport’s approach is if you’re not medal potential you don’t get funding and that is fair enough as that’s their approach, but we’re just trying to prove that we deserve that.”
Betzien and Rudolf stepping onto World Tour after impressing on German Tour
Germany’s Max Betzien and Niklas Rudolf were another of the eight teams to make it through to the main draw.
Rudolf featured at the Anapa Open earlier in the season, but the pair are playing in their first World Tour event together, but they impressed with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory over Hasan Huseyin Mermer and Selcuk Sekerci.
“It is very important we won because our stay here depends on this match,” Rudolf said.
Like many of their illustrious male and female compatriots, Betzien and Rudolf have honed their skills on the ultra-competitive German Tour and earlier this year won bronze at the tournament in Binz.
“We have about eight national teams playing international volleyball and it is a great platform for young players to improve,” Betzien added. “It is perfect for our first step before the World Tour.”
Doha is making its debut as a World Tour venue. Previously it hosted beach volleyball as part of the Doha 2006 Asian Games. The World Tour is made up of 10 Grand Slam tournaments and eight Opens. The next and final tournament on the 2014 World Tour is the Mangaung Open in South Africa that runs from December 9-14.