First Hellvig and Åhman. Then Hölting Nilsson and Andersson. These are two duos' success that few in the beach volleyball world have missed in recent years. When the Beach Pro Tour, a sub-tour to the Elite16 world tour, takes place in Malmö this week, all four will be in place – but only two will be able to play.
On Wednesday, it was announced that world championship silver medallist Elmer Andersson would miss the competition due to a hip injury. Instead, Alfred Mjörnheim, from Huddinge, will step in with Jacob Hölting Nilsson.
We get to play together in training tonight (Thursday), and we'll see what the path to success is," says Hölting Nilsson.
Two blockers – in the same pair
Olympic and world championship gold medallist David Åhman has previously announced that he will be out of action due to a knee injury, which means that Malmö player Anton Andersson will form a new pair with Jonatan Hellvig.
You're both blockers, who's at the net?
"It's going to be a double block," Jonatan says jokingly and continues:
No, but we'll probably have to take turns blocking and defending a bit.
Andersson and Hellvig have not played a tournament together before and have not tried varying the blocking role between them.
And I haven't done many days in defense either, but it will probably be good, says Anton Andersson.
“A magnet”
As the players prepare for Friday, over 120 people are working to keep the competition going. Hang Ho, a local project manager, says that this weekend's matches are basically sold out.
Of course we would have liked to see David and Elmer, because they are poster names, but if you are familiar with volleyball it doesn't matter that much. It makes it a bit exciting to see Jonatan and Jacob play with new people, she says and adds:
It's a real magnet that everyone still comes to Malmö, even though two of them won't be playing. It shows that it's important to them.
Elmer Andersson was injured on the world tour in Gstaad, Switzerland, last weekend, when he was playing together with Hölting Nilsson. The goal for both Andersson and Åhman is to be ready for the European Championships in Poland in August.
Then you'll see how it feels and see how much the knee can really handle. The plan is for me to play there, says Åhman.
Thursday
10:00–18:00, qualifying matches
Friday
10:00–14:30, group stage
15:00–19:45, group stage
Saturday
10:00–14:00, round of 16
2:00 PM–6:00 PM, quarterfinals
Sunday
10:00–12:00, semifinals
2:30 PM–4:30 PM, bronze medal match and final
