Chilean beach volleyball sensations Marco and Esteban Grimalt have reached their inaugural semifinal of the 2025 season. They are poised to compete against Brazilian Olympians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci, with Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan set to face American siblings Taylor and Trevor Crabb in the opposite bracket.
The Chilean cousins, Marco and Esteban Grimalt, are gearing up for their first semifinal appearance of the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season this Saturday, as the Elite event in Newport Beach, USA, concludes.
Their semifinal match, scheduled for 9:00 local time (16:00 GMT), will see the South American pair go head-to-head with Brazilian Olympians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci. An hour later, Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will clash with the American brothers, Taylor and Trevor Crabb. The tournament final is slated to commence at 14:00 (21:00 GMT).
The 2025 Beach Pro Tour season has presented considerable challenges for the Grimalts. Before arriving in California this week, they had participated in 12 international tournaments, achieving a top-ten finish only three times: placing ninth in the Yucatán and Veracruz Challenges and the Montréal Elite.
A significant setback occurred just over a month ago when their esteemed coach, the former Brazilian player Paulão Moreira, sadly passed away.
The Grimalts` journey in Newport Beach has been a rollercoaster of triumphs and setbacks. After successfully navigating two qualifier matches on Tuesday, they experienced consecutive losses in pool play. Their progression to the next round was ultimately secured when Brazilians Saymon Barbosa and George Wanderley forfeited their encounter.
However, Friday marked a pivotal high point for the Chilean duo. They delivered two outstanding performances, first sweeping American Olympians Miles Evans and Chase Budinger 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) in the Round of 12. Following this, they emerged victorious from a thrilling three-set quarterfinal battle (25-23, 13-21, 20-18) against Swedish talents Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson.
Their upcoming opponents in the semifinals, Evandro and Arthur, had a more straightforward path on Friday in Newport Beach. They played only once, securing a decisive two-set victory (21-17, 21-18) against Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen.
Crabbs Maintain Winning Streak
The Crabb brothers, playing internationally together for the first time since 2016, also needed two wins to secure their semifinal spot. They are now the sole men`s team from the host nation, the United States, with a chance to medal at this elite event, the first of its kind in the country since 2018.
Trevor and Taylor began their day in the Round of 12, where they leveraged strong home crowd support to defeat Australian Olympians Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis 2-0 (21-13, 21-19). This victory boosted their confidence, leading to another impressive performance in the quarterfinals. There, they dispatched German Olympic medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler in straight sets (21-14, 21-18).
Meanwhile, Cherif and Ahmed, who had an unblemished record in pool play on Friday, lost their first set of the Newport Beach tournament. However, they quickly regrouped to triumph over Latvians Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots in a tie-breaker (18-21, 21-16, 15-10) during their only match of the day in the quarterfinals.
Oliver Wrenwick