The Philippe-Chatrier court was once again filled with sand to host the second edition of the Paris Beach Pro Tour, one year after the first at Roland-Garros. This Elite 16 tournament, the highest level of the circuit, welcomes the best pairs of beachers on the planet until Sunday (to be followed live on L’Équipe live), on three courts in total (with 6 and 7). A crucial competition in the race to qualify for the rankings for the Paris Games, including for the three French pairs entered (three other duos were eliminated in qualifying on Wednesday).
French beach volleyball, deprived of representatives at the Olympic Games since 2004 in Athens, will have at least one female pair and one male pair, via the host country’s quota, under the Eiffel Tower, in less than a year. There could be two additional thanks to the Olympic ranking, which will qualify, on June 10, 2024, the 17 best teams (men and women) based on the 12 best results obtained since last January. The other two solutions are more random: you must be crowned world champion on October 15 in Tlaxcala, Mexico, or win the continental tournament at the end of June 2024.
Four pairs at the Games, not just in dreams
A dream a year ago, two possibilities today, thanks to the journeys of Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, and Alexia Richard and Lézana Placette. The first, 42nd in the world a year ago, 11th today (the Olympic ranking is not yet meaningful, due to the disparity in the number of tournaments played), have earned their place in the most highly rated tournaments after their victory in Torquay, Australia, in December 2022 (Elite 16), a final in April in Itapema, Brazil (Challenge, 2nd level), a quarter-final in June in Ostrava (Czech Republic, Elite 16). The abandonment in Montreal in July, due to an injury to Krou, did not alter their ranking, even if Gauthier-Rat had to compete in the Euro with Rémi Bassereau, deprived of Julien Lyneel (back).
“It’s been a satisfactory year,” summarizes Gauthier-Rat. And it’s rare to say it, we are always very hard on ourselves! We can’t afford to have two bad results in a row, it’s very demanding. Each time it is a question of reproducing what we have done, maintaining stability. » Their objective at Roland-Garros: a quarter-final, minimum (the first in the groups are directly qualified for the quarters, the second and third for the eighth).
Alexia Richard and Lezana Placette are currently ranked 21st in the world. “We have made a lot of progress since the Brazilian staff arrived (in 2018), notes Placette. Until then, it did not have an impact on the results, but over the past year and a half, it has started to be the case and it is a virtuous circle, the results bring confidence, experience…”
This season, the two women completed their staff with a dietician, a psychologist, and a mental trainer, paid by themselves. A profitable choice, particularly on a mental level. “The word this year is stability,” adds Richard. We have always been capable of performing… and underperforming. Today, we are more stable at the high level. We are still outsiders, we can only perform. »
“We managed to skip a lot of steps, but we need time”
If Richard and Placette are largely leaders in France (Vieira and Chamereau, eliminated in qualifying on Wednesday, are 56th in the world), Krou and Gauthier-Rat know that three other pairs are on their heels. Starting with Julien Lyneel and Rémi Bassereau, who left their careers as indoor receivers-attackers a year ago by the Federation, keen to try to qualify as many athletes as possible for the Games.
Engaged in a race against time to make their place in the world elite, they saw their rise slowed down by Lyneel’s back injury. “We had a very enriching year,” observes the Montpellier resident. We managed to skip a lot of steps, but we need time, there are still a lot of things to refine, and it’s been three and a half months since we last competed together. It’s progressing slowly, we can’t wait to play, reassess ourselves a little and use this tournament to prepare for the Worlds in Mexico. »
Two crucial meetings
In ambush, we still find the brothers Quincy and Calvin Aye, and especially the young Téo Rotar and Arthur Canet, U20 European champions this summer, a year after their U19 world title, even if the two duos were eliminated in qualifying. Wednesday.
This start of autumn marks a crucial stage in the race for Olympic qualification. After Paris, penultimate Elite 16 of the year (will remain Joao Pessoa, in Brazil, at the end of November), the candidates will be able to stock up on points (30% more than in Elite 16) at the Worlds in Tlaxcala, Mexico (October 6-15). The names of applicants will begin to emerge in a few weeks.
2023-09-28 07:00:00
#Ambitious #Blues #RolandGarros #Paris #Beach #Pro #Tour
