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The city located on the Italian East Coast will stage competition from Wednesday to Sunday at the Spiaggia Molo Adriano, where 56 teams – half in each gender – will be in action. The tournament begins with the qualifier, which will determine the last four men’s and women’s teams that will take part in the main draw, which starts on Thursday. The medal matches will be held on Sunday.
Hosts Italy will have six teams in the men’s event, more than any other nation, with four of them starting directly in the main draw. Europe will also be represented by three duos from the Netherlands, two from Czechia and Germany and one from each of Austria, Belgium, England, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania and Switzerland.
Despite the predominance of European teams, the men’s tournament in Lecce will have a strong global feeling, with teams from Africa, Asia and South America also taking part in the competition. China will feature three sides, Argentina two and Cameroon, the Maldives and South Africa one each.
Italian Olympians and top-seeded Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi are the undisputed favorites to win gold this week in Lecce among the men. While Lupo is a three-time Olympian, having taken silver at the Rio 2016 Games, Rossi made his Olympic debut two years ago in Tokyo, finishing 19th. Seeded fifth with partner Felix Friedl, Austrian Alexander Huber is another Olympian in the men’s field.
The winners of last year’s Lecce Futures, Italians Jakob Windisch and Gianluca Dal Corso will be back to defend their titles, but with different partners. While Windisch is seeded sixth in the main draw with Tobia Marchetto, Dal Corso will have to start his campaign in the qualifier with new partner Marco Viscovich. Argentineans Bautista Amieva and Leo Aveiro, who were fourth last year, are also back, beginning the event in the main draw.
The women’s tournament in Lecce will have eight Italian teams among the 28 participants, with Poland (3), Austria (2), Czechia (2), Finland (2), Greece (1), Lithuania (1), Portugal (1), Slovakia (1), Spain (1) and Sweden (1) all sending teams to compete too.
The event will also count on large representation from outside the continent, with Canada sending three teams, Australia fielding two and Argentina and Chile having one each in contention.
Seeded fourth with her younger sister Reka, 32-year-old Italian Viktoria Orsi Toth is the only Olympian in the women’s field. It will be their first tournament in more than a year, with their last appearance having happened at the 2022 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship. The host country also has the top-seeded team in the tournament, with Margherita Bianchin and Claudia Scampoli ranking first in the entry list.
Argentineans Maia Najul and Cecilia Peralta, who earned bronze last year, will be back in Lecce, starting as the sixth-seeded duo in the main draw. Australian Alisha Stevens, who was fourth, is also set to return, now playing with Caitlin Bettenay – the two are seeded second.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.