Vanuatu will begin their Commonwealth Games campaign with the Women’s Beach Volleyball, which will start tomorrow.
The 2018 Bronze medal winners are in Pool C in the Women’s competition with England, Solomon Islands and Scotland.
Vanuatu will meet Scotland in their first match on Sunday 31 July.
Vanuatu will be coming up against familiar opponents in Canada and Australia as well as facing possible threats from traditional rivals New Zealand and even the host nation England.
Miller Pata and Sherysyn Toko have had a strong lead-up to the event, performing well in their European FIVB tournaments over the last two months, culminating in a gold medal win at the Beach Pro Tour tournament in Leece, Italy.
Coach Steve Anderson, formerly head coach for the gold medal winning Canada team in 2018, has seen to it that the training and competition practice has been solid in preparing for Birmingham 2022.
The Beach Volleyball competition will run from 30 July to 7 August and will take place in the heart of the city of Birmingham.
Pata will be a part of the leading athletes marching into the stadium, in support of flag bearer and para-athlete Elie Enock, alongside judoka Joe Mahit.
With a 10-hour time difference between the UK and Vanuatu, the BV competition will be taking place late in the day and overnight for family and friends at home.
There will be 12 teams participating in both the Women’s and the Men’s competitions with the 2022 event marking beach volleyball’s second appearance at the Commonwealth Games, after the sport made its successful debut four years ago on the Gold Coast in Australia.