Team England Beach Volleyball pairs victorious at selection tournament
News
Javier Bello/Joaquin Bello and Daisy Mumby/Jess Grimson have won the Team England Selection Tournament at Deep Dish in Crystal Palace, thus securing their places to represent the home nation at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games this summer.
The Selection Tournament was the biggest Beach Volleyball competition on English soil since the 2012 Olympic Games, and the victorious athletes will now be aiming to ‘Bring it Home’ for Team England. They will play in front of the Smithfield crowds in the centre of Birmingham from Saturday, July 30, to Sunday, August 7, 2022.
This summer, Team England will comprise of over 400 athletes in total, all of whom will look to capitalise on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring home success in their own country.
The Beach Volleyball pairs representing Team England are:
- Jess Grimson/Daisy Mumby
- Javier Bello/Joaquin Bello
The Bello twins, aged 21, have been making history from an early age. Javier and Joaquin won a gold medal for Team England at the Bahamas 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. The siblings were born in Madrid, Spain, but count London as their home and have played Volleyball since the age of six. Javier recently graduated in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the Royal Holloway University, while Joaquin will soon be starting his fifth year studying medicine at Imperial College.
The Bello twins won the selection tournament in two straight games to crown them the winning men’s pair.
Javier Bello“We are ecstatic right now and we will have a quick celebration then go back to work to prepare for the Commonwealth Games, which has been our goal since the Gold Coast. We saw the Gold Coast event and we said we wanted to be at the next one and now we have accomplished that so onto the next goal, which is to win a medal.”
Jess Grimson, 31, and Daisy Mumby, 30, are a new partnership having teamed up at the start of 2020. Both have transitioned into beach athletes after playing Volleyball indoors. Jess, originally from Leeds but now based in Bournemouth, competed for Team England at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. With her previous partner, Victoria Palmer, Grimson picked up a World Tour bronze medal, several top 10 finishes internationally and made it to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Mumby, of London, has carved out an unconventional path to the national team. A talented recreational player, she was encouraged to take Beach Volleyball more seriously in recent years – and the move has paid dividends.
After an exciting selection tournament for Grimson/Mumby, going to a decider in the final set of the third game, Daisy Mumby reacted:
“I could barely breathe when it was over, I think just due to excitement. Already having a great crowd here supporting us today and the whole weekend, it is just going to be bigger and better at the Games.”
Team England’s Chef de Mission, Mark England OBE, welcomed the athletes to the team: “Beach Volleyball is a relatively new Commonwealth sport, but we have an incredibly talented pool of athletes in England and that was demonstrated this weekend. I am delighted to welcome Daisy, Jess, Javier, and Joaquin to Team England, and I look forward to watching them ‘Bring it Home’ over the Games!”