There is a singular talent about Kelly Cheng, one she and perhaps two others on the Beach Pro Tour possess: The ability to flip a switch, and decide a match is now over, thank you very much.
She did so twice on Sunday at the Joao Pessoa Elite. You could see it happen and didn’t need to look particularly close. Down 15-18 in the second set of the semifinals to Brazil’s Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, Cheng flipped that switch she has and ripped off a six point run to seal not just a 21-18, 21-18 victory, but also the guarantee of her and Shaw’s first Beach Pro Tour medal as a team.
They’d come close, twice finishing fourth to begin the season, in Quintana Roo and Saqaurema.
There would be no fourth in Joao Pessoa. There wouldn’t be a single loss.
In the finals, against Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, Cheng again seemed to flip that internal switch. Leading 15-14 in the second, she and Shaw pulled away with a four-point run to put it out of reach, making it only a matter of time before they were standing atop the podium for the first time.
“It just feels amazing,” Cheng said after the 21-16, 21-17 finals win. “Molly and I have been working so hard. I want to give God all the glory, I wouldn’t be here without Him.”
Nor would she have been there without Shaw. Magnificent as Cheng was all tournament, and in particular on Sunday, Shaw was as consistent as she has been all season, and she needed to be. This was an Elite field in every sense of the word, a Brazilian-American slugfest that seemed to revive the oldest and greatest rivalry in the sport in all of the best ways. Cheng and Shaw would beat all four Brazilian opponents in their path, again notching a win over Ana Patricia and Duda, remaining undefeated against the Paris gold medalists. They’d beat world No. 1 Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes and sweep Carol and Rebecca, the team who had been playing the best beach volleyball in the tournament up to that point.
This was a team win, through and through, the whole greater than the sum of their considerable parts.
“It was a tough tournament,” Shaw said. “Every team we played was on their game. It was an honor to play at this level next to Kelly. I’m shocked right now.”
Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft: Beach Volleyball’s Bridesmaids (for now)
One day, Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft will stand atop a podium on the Beach Pro Tour.
Sunday in Joao Pessoa wasn’t that day.
For the seventh time in their partnership, Cannon and Kraft have finished second, falling to Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw, which was the first time the two have met in a final. It marked the fourth runner-up finish of the season for Kraft and Cannon, who took silver in Quintana Roo and fell twice on the AVP finals in Huntington Beach and Manhattan Beach to Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher.
Granted, the universe also gave Cannon and Kraft the unusual second life that is this bizarre round of 12 format. For the third time this season, Cannon and Kraft have lost in the round of 12 but advanced to the quarterfinals anyway. It’s called a lucky loser, but luck has little to do with it; however weird the system is, Cannon and Kraft capitalize by flattening teams in pool play by enough to earn that second life, and then making good on that second life. They were resurrected and promptly dismissed Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, 21-15, 21-16, in the quarterfinals, upset Ana Patricia and Duda to make the finals and then resumed their role as bridesmaids to Cheng and Shaw.
I have no doubt they will win a tournament. I have bet on it that they will do so this year, and will double down on any new takers.
By the end of 2025, the bridesmaids will become the bride.
Evandro and Arthur thrive at home/Volleyball World photo
Evandro, Arthur, And The Brazilian Home Court Advantage
A while ago, we were asked on a fan question episode of the podcast if Brazil has a home court advantage, particularly with the amount of events they host in any given season. There are, for example, five Elites in 2025 alone.
The answer is an undeniable yes.
Brazil boasts the sport’s truest fans, in that they are there to root for Brazil, no different than I would root for the Ravens or you might root for the Lakers. They’re a home crowd, through and through. They sing, they dance, they bang drums and pound caipirinhas and wait in line to get into the stadium at 6 in the morning — for a 9 a.m. match. European events host excellent crowds, too, but they’re awfully polite. They’ll pull for anyone.
Brazilians once booed Anders Mol a year ago here in Joao Pessoa.
So, yes, there’s a home court advantage, and it’s wonderful and, dare I say, needed.
Nobody loves it more than Evandro and Arthur.
Their gold medal in Joao Pessoa, won in a 21-15, 27-25 sweep over France’s Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye — more on them below — was their first medal since a silver in April in Brasilia, and their first gold since Brasilia in 2024. Their other two victories as a partnership also came in Brazil: Recife in March of 2024 and Saqaurema in 2023. Four of their six medals as a team have come at home, and every single one of their victories.
Coincidence?
I think not.
That’s the adoration of a home crowd.
Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye celebrate a breakout tournament in Joao Pessoa/Volleyball World photo
Remi Bassereau, Calvin Aye deliver on their gargantuan potential
I said it in Ostrava, even when Calvin Aye and Remi Bassereau took an otherwise pedestrian 13th place finish that most people likely forgot about before the day was even over, that their time was coming. I went so far as to write: “I’ll make the bet that we see them on the podium of at least one Elite16 this season, and nobody will want to see them come World Champs in November.”
Well, here we are, and Bassereau and Aye are now owners of their first Elite medal, a most unexpected silver in Joao Pessoa, besting their previous finish of ninth by seven spots.
None of this came easy. They had to beat England’s Bello Brothers in a tremendous qualifier bout, lost a three-setter to David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig (17-21, 21-18, 13-15), came back to beat Chaim Schalk and James Shaw in three (21-17, 20-22, 16-14) then navigated a hellish gauntlet of Argentina’s Capogrosso Brothers, Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, and the resurgent Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger of Austria to make it into the semifinals. That they beat Alex Brouwer and Steven van De Velde in the semifinals should have come as no surprise at that point.
Sometimes a team just has that magic dust about them.
They had it all week in Brazil.
Good time, too, for Bassereau and Aye came in ranked No. 25 in the World Champs standings, the last team into Adelaide this fall, and this silver all but punched their ticket into the World Championships. I wrote in June that nobody would want to see them in November.
Surely that rings truer now.
Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw were Brazil’s kryptonite in Joao Pessoa/Volleyball World photo
USA vs. Brazil: After all this time? Always.
The first Beach Volleyball World Championship was held in 1987, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It would take a decade for a team outside of the USA or Brazil to so much as make a semifinal.
And as the storyline of the sport has been the deepening of federations around the globe, from the German women to the Swiss women and a perpetually elite team from Canada and Latvia and others in the mix, nearly half a century later, the women’s side of the sport is still dominated by two federations, and two federations only: USA and Brazil.
This entire week in Joao Pessoa was a slugfest of Brazil vs. USA Volleyball. Fourteen matches total were played between the USA and Brazil women, with the U.S. winning nine of them. Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw were spectacular in the rivalry matches. They stumped Ana Patricia and Duda in pool to continue their undefeated run against the Paris Olympics gold medalists, knocked off Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima in the first round of playoff, sent another home team packing in world No. 1 Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes in the quarterfinals, and swept the white-hot Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti in the semifinals. They were backed up by Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, who delivered another loss to Ana Patricia and Duda in the semifinals, making it their second win in three matches over the 2022 World Champs.
Even without the services of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, who were uncharacteristically off in a ninth-place finish, the Americans put on a tour de force in Joao Pessoa, reminding the beach volleyball world that the longest-standing rivalry in the sport is still well and good.
Hugo Campos in Joao Pessoa/Volleyball World photo
Joao Pedrosa, Hugo Campos, and a much-needed breakout
For the first few months of this season, 2025 seemed to be Portugal’s long-awaited, bona fide breakout year. Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos began with a bronze medal at the Yucatan Challenge, their first medal since a shocking gold out of the qualifier in the Edmonton Challenge of 2023. They qualified the next week for an Elite in Quintana Roo, getting knocked out in three sets by Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot. No sweat there. A World Championships berth seemed almost on lock just two weeks into the season.
Then began quite a slump. They finished four of their next five tournaments in double digits. From April through August, their best finish was a ninth in a Challenge. Suddenly, their World Champs hopes were on life support.
Then came Joao Pessoa.
A white-knuckling qualifier win over Jonathan Jordan and Adrian Heidrich — more on them below — begat a stunner over Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, a team they’d never before played. Then followed a drubbing of Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, and in a blink, Portugal was promised their best Elite finish of the year, and a likely lucky loser bid into the quarterfinals should they need one. Indeed they did, and while they were swept in both the round of 12 and the quarterfinals, their fifth-place finish is the best result of the year, better even than their bronze in Yucatan. They padded their World Champs standings by 760 points, a massive boon for the team coming in ranked No. 26, one spot out of qualifying.
Hello Consistency, Meet Yorick de Groot and Stefan Boermans
It’s difficult to win a medal on the Beach Pro Tour. Insanely difficult.
Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot are somehow making it look easy. The Dutch pair won their third straight bronze medal, fourth bronze of the season, and fifth total medal in just six events on the Beach Pro Tour this summer. That type of consistency is something we’ve only seen from Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, whom Boermans and de Groot swept in the quarterfinals, and David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, who took a ninth.
That’s the elite class they’re in.
Switzerland’s no good, very bad tournament
The Swiss men have had a tantalizing season. On one end, they opened the year with a surprise finals appearance from Yves Haussener and Julian Freidli at the Yucatan Challenge. They put together the strongest showing in Gstaad we’ve seen in years. They’ve seen promising performances from Jonathan Jordan and Adrian Heidrich, and a stunning gold medal run in Stare Jablonki from Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier. They could push three teams into the World Championships this fall in Adelaide.
Joao Pessoa did them no favors.
In the span of 24 hours, a pair of Swiss men’s teams — Freidli and Haussener, Jordan and Heidrich — lost in the qualifier, and Krattiger and Dillier failed to break pool. That wasn’t entirely their own doing as much as it was complete shit luck. Anders Mol and Christian Sorum were shocked in the first round of pool play by Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos, so instead of seeing a team who hasn’t made a quarterfinal in six months, they played… the best team on the planet… just to break pool.
They looked defeated before the match began, dropping 21-10, 21-14 after a 21-12, 21-13 loss to Chase Budinger and Miles Evans in the first round. As far as World Champs go, Krattiger and Dillier are still in solid shape, but Haussener and Freidli and Jordan and Heidrich have just two tournaments left to make moves.
Anders Mol sets at the Joao Pessoa Elite/Volleyball World photo
History made: First Elite without a Scandinavian semifinalist…ever*
Joao Pessoa featured something we have never seen since the Beach Pro Tour became the current three-tiered system of Futures, Challenges and Elites: A semifinal free of Scandinavia, in which either Anders Mol and Christian Sorum or David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig have competed and not forfeited.
You’ll find a few Elites that were devoid of Scandinavian teams and a handful where Norway forfeited out of pool play. You’re welcome to count those against them if you want; I won’t. When Sweden and Norway have participated and been healthy, every single semifinal has featured at least one of them.
That’s bonkers consistency.
This, of course, was bound to happen at some point. Joao Pessoa, which was hot and windy and something of an equalizier, was that point. Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot made good on their second life, being resurrected from the round of 12 to sweep Mol and Sorum, 22-20, 21-16, while Sweden was swept by Austria’s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger, 21-16, 32-20. Parity has slowly been creeping into the sport, as Sweden has descended back into mortality following their Paris Olympic gold medal, and Joao Pessoa proved as much.
Timo Hammarberg and David Ahman joust in Joao Pessoa/Volleyball World photo
Welcome back, Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger
Speaking of Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger, they’d had a rough summer prior to a fifth-place finish in Joao Pessoa. A year that began with so much promise quickly devolved into a pair of qualifier knockouts in Quintana Roo and Saquarema and a 17th-place finish at the Yucatan Challenge.
So long, entry points.
They hadn’t made a main draw of an Elite since Brasilia in April, where they were excellent, taking fifth while picking up three notable wins over Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, Evandro and Arthur, and Andy Benesh and Miles Partain.
In Joao Pessoa, they rediscovered their form, upsetting Latvia’s Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots, winning pool with a three-setter over Germans Lukas Pfretzschner and Sven Winter and sending Sweden packing in their first victory over David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.
The fall is the right time to peak, with World Champs coming in November. If there’s a time to be finding their form, this is the one.
Saymon passes/Volleyball World photo
George and Saymon: The new kings of the All-Weird team
The All-Weird team has, for a long time, been headlined by Chile’s Esteban Grimalt and Marco Grimalt, who can win a tournament at any time and also lose in the first round of a qualifier at any time.
You just never know. It’s part of their charm and mystique. Which team will show up? Who knows?! You have to watch.
It’s wonderful Volleyball TV.
George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa, however, may be the new leader in weirdest team in the world.
How often, after all, can you find a team who loses in a qualifier in an Elite — to the Grimalts in Montreal, perfectly enough — who barbecues in their next event in Hamburg… and then take down David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, win pool… and then get swept to Vinicius and Heitor, a team who had never played an Elite main draw?
There are new kings of the All-Weird Team, and their names are George and Saymon.
Chaim Schalk and James Shaw just needed to not get last. They got last.
The task before Chaim Schalk and James Shaw in Joao Pessoa was simple: Just don’t get last. Do that, in the final three events of this World Championships qualifying period, and they’d be in, no problem.
Simple doesn’t equate to easy, and for the second straight tournament, Schalk and Shaw finished last, losing to George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa and Calvin Aye and Remi Bassereau. They’ll still make a significant jump in the rankings, and the odds are still well in their favor, but they’re now cutting it closer than anybody would have anticipated when they began the season with a bronze medal at the Quintana Roo Elite.
