Bellos Elite16 win is England's best result - Pitman

The London-based brothers put together a remarkable string of results in Brazil – seven wins and just one defeat – against high quality opposition to lift their maiden title at the highest level. 

Their victories included those over world top 10 players Matthew Immers and Steven Van de Velde and Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, the latter who took bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

The sensational performance has catapulted them up to 17th in the global rankings – their highest position to date – and earned them a host of plaudits both in the UK and across the world. 

Pitman (pictured above), who is working hard to strengthen Volleyball England’s beach development programme, was mightily impressed by what he saw and hopes it will act as an inspiration to those looking to follow in the Bellos’ footsteps. 

“This is best result any English team has had in my opinion,” he said. “I think it is important because it shows our younger aspiring athletes that it can be done on the world stage at that top level. 

“It wasn’t a completely full draw in terms of all the pairs who were there, but the impressive thing is they beat some very good teams along the way, not least the Norwegians (who won the previous Elite16 event in Joao Passoa).” 

After coming through two rounds of qualifying and then advancing from Pool C as its winners, the Bellos secured a confidence boosting, straight sets success over long-time nemeses Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik of Ukraine in the quarter-finals. 

They fought back superbly from a set down against Mol and Sorum in the semis to take the deciding third 15-12 and land a place in the final. 

There, facing Argentina' Capogrosso brothers, Tomas and Nicolas, they were again up against it after dropping the first set 24-22, needing to save match points in the second to stay in it. 

But they managed to cling on, take the set 30-28 and then, in the decider, edge through by a 15-13 margin to spark wild celebrations. 

Pitman hopes the result will help the Bellos – who train at the Barns Elms Sports Centre close to the banks of the River Thames – move on to the next level. 

The Bellos' run to the Rio title far eclipses anything that has gone before by Englishmen in Elite 16 competition - including the previous best set by them of a top 10 finish in Brasilia, which came earlier this year.

Freddie Bialokoz and Issa Batrane are the only other English pair to have qualified for an Elite 16 main draw.

Pitman added: "No-one has gone as far into a tournament like Javier and Joaquin did here, let alone win it. 

“They needed to improve entry ranking points as they had dropped off some points – they needed to get a good result – and this has certainly done that!  

“For a while they have had close results against top teams, but not quite pushed on. In this event, they changed that narrative and I hope it will give them belief and confidence.   

“Four years is still a long way away from LA 2028, so the continued development will be important. Building consistency in these performances and results will be the next steps moving forward.” 

Images courtesy of Volleyball World / VBTV