Next week, the Beach pro tour kicks off with its first challenger event! Following up from the New Zealand futures at the start of February the BPT is shifting up a gear in Bhubaneswar, with qualification starting on Wednesday the 4th of march. Ahead of the event, I wanted to list a few of my personal favourite ones to watch in the main draw and qualifier for the men’s and women’s draw.
For the men’s side the Austrians have split up, with Horl (seed 8) and Horst (seed 3) now on separate teams pitted against each other. I’d love to see a head-to-head with those two and watch who comes out on top. Our very own Issa Batrane and Freddie Bialokoz (seed 10) are also competing in the main draw, so naturally I’ll be tuning in to support their matches and help them wave the flag. In their last two events of the 2025 season the English team fought their way into the main draw of both the Itapema and Cape Town Elite series events, so I’m excited to see what they’ve been working on in the off season. Another nationality I’ll be keeping my eye on is the Australian teams. Ben Hood (seed 12) competed with Oliver Merrit (seed 21) in the 2025 Adelaide World Championships, but now those two have also separated this season, the partners now on opposing sides of the net in the teams Merrit/Walker and Hood/Hodges.
In the qualification are Duval/Canet (seed 3) and Bulgacs/Graudins (seed 4). In my time at the Under 22 European Championships in Austria last year I found Canet to be incredibly underrated, and I thought he shined when on court with his partner Theo Rotar. Whilst he’s competing with the 18-year-old Duval this season, I hope he gets plenty of opportunities to show his skills off. Bulgacs has my interest due to his time playing with Fokerot’s at under 22’s. Fokerot’s current partner, Mārtiņš Pļaviņš, is 40 years old, the world is speculating who will replace him as the next Latvian defender, so this season might be a chance for Bulgacs to show if hes up to the task or not.
Over on the women’s side of the draw, when I looked at the entry list my eyes were drawn to the return of Sara Hughes (seed 1). After sustaining an Achilles tendon injury at the start of last season, she’s now returning with 23-year-old Batenhorst for Hughes’s first full season post injury. Although Batenhorst is still shifting from being a collegiate outside in the USA to a BPT athlete, I’ve got no doubts about their ability; after all, how hard can the transition be when you’ve got the 2023 World Champion and a 2024 Paris Olympian as your partner? Another team I’m eager to see play is Lunio/Ulka (seed 15). They last played together at the 2025 World Championships, as well as competing in the Under 22 European Championships. Lunio claimed a bronze at Under 22s, but Ulka claimed 5th in a separate team. Poland is looking dangerous in the future, and all these new teams are making the wait for the next Olympics a lot more manageable.
Looking towards the qualification, the Under 22 CEV champion Yeva Serdiuk (seed 1) is competing with Sofia Kurnikova as the top seed, and I’ll be cheering for them from Wednesday. The last time I saw Serdiuk play it was with Daria Romaniuk who captured everyone’s attention due to Romaniuk competing with a back brace for the entire tournament!
With the new season starting and the next Olympics on the horizon in Miami in 2028, there will be plenty of new teams partnering up this season, and I for one, am super excited to get to watch it all unfold across the BPT this year.
Written by George Ruddick
