Four teams line up at U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships

The 2023 Under 21 World Beach Volleyball Championships start in Thailand today with four Australian teams vying for glory.

Leading the Aussie charge are Stefanie Fejes (NSW) and Jasmine Fleming (QLD) who in July won the Asian Volleyball Confederation U21 Beach Volleyball Championships at the same venue as they will be playing at this week.

They will be joined in the women’s draw by Kayla Mears (QLD) and Lizzie Alchin (WA) who have showed good form as a combination, finishing third and fourth in Beach Pro Tour Futures tournaments in August. Mears and Alchin will need to make it through qualifying to join Fejes and Fleming in the main draw.

In the men’s draw, Asian U21 Champion Ben Hood (QLD) is joined D’Artagnan Potts (SA) in the first of two major international tournaments they will play together this month. The pair have also been selected for the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.

Mitch Croft (VIC) and Harley Sinclair (NSW) get their opportunity in the qualifying round as they play to earn a place in the main draw.

In the preliminary round of qualifying, Mears/Alchin have received a bye while Croft/Sinclair face Canadian opposition for a place in the second round – click here to live stream from 1:20pm AEDT.

Click here to watch Mears/Alchin in action from 4pm AEDT.

Pool Matches commence on Wednesday with the finals taking place on Sunday 12 November.

Australia have claimed two medals at the U21 World Championships in the past, with Becchara Palmer and Alice Rohkamper winning silver in 2007 while Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy took home bronze in 2012.

Click here for schedule and results.

Click here to stream via the Volleyball World YouTube channel.