Information and photo courtesy of volleyball.org.au
The road to the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships is a long one with some significant steps towards Adelaide being taken by Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic this week when they open their international season in Mexico.
The new pairing will line up in the first Challenge event of the 2025 Beach Pro Tour in Yucatan where they commence play on day two after bypassing the qualification round.
With Mariafe Artacho del Solar recently announcing her pregnancy, Clancy has formed a new partnership with Milutionovic with the duo finding instant success at the Canberra and Cobram rounds of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour.
While Clancy is a seasoned campaigner at Elite16 level, she is re-energised to get back on the Tour with a new partner at a time that traditionally sees some movement in the teams from around the world.
“I’m really excited to step back on Tour,” said Clancy. “I love Mexico as well, I always tend to do pretty well there so it’s always nice to be back in environments which give you good energy.
“It’s a really exciting time after an Olympic cycle, there’s a lot of team changes and everything’s new so you’ve just got to be patient. The World Tour is so good but I know that the elements of our game are good enough to be stepping onto a podium at Elite16s.
“So I’m excited to go back to Mexico, eat lots of guacamole and play some of the best teams in the world. Every team is great, we know that, but I definitely know and trust that we have the elements to be really competitive on tour.”
Milutinovic is motivated for a successful six week tour which includes time in both Mexico and Brazil, and is not overawed by the chance to play against the best teams in the world.
“It’s obviously a big step up but it’s a really awesome opportunity and I’m keen to see what we can achieve together as a team,” she said. “It’s exciting, it’s a new experience.
“Yes, it’s a competition block but it’s a new partner, new events, new coaching team, different team to be travelling with so I’m sure that extra stimulation will help and make the whole experience smooth and easier.”
The 23-year-old from South Australia credits the new pairing’s victories on the national tour as crucial to getting them ready for their upcoming campaign.
“We can train competitively as much as we want but you can’t really ever emulate the same kind of competition environment,” said Milutinovic.
“So it’s good to get out and go through the games, the game play, the strategy, work out how to bounce back from sets lost and figuring out a way to win is really important before going on tour.”
With the next eight months meticulous mapped out, Clancy is looking forward to reaching the World Championships this November in Adelaide, excited by the upcoming period when the best players in the sport will be heading down under.
“To have two of the biggest events in beach volleyball coming to Australia – first the World Champs this year and then the Olympics in 2032 – that’s really unique and really special,” she said.
“Everyone can come down and enjoy it and I know everyone’s really excited so it’s going to be really nice to have all the top players in our backyard.”
Click here to stream the Beach Pro Tour Challenge in Yucatan, Mexico on volleyballworld.tv
Click here for fixtures and results from the Beach Pro Tour Challenge in Yucatan, Mexico.
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