Beach volleyball will make it's Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast in 2018 after a successful appeal by the Queensland Government.
The sport had been set to debut at the 2022 Games in Durban, South Africa.
However Queensland Games minister Stirling Hinchliffe appealed to bring it forward four years, wanting the event to showcase the Gold Coast's great beaches.
The Commonwealth Games Federation's endorsement means the 2018 Games will have the most number of sports ever contested - 18 - in the 21 editions of the Games.
Beach volleyball debuted in the Olympics in 1996 and Australia won gold at the home Olympics in Sydney 2000.
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Now Volleyball Australia president Craig Carracher is confident Australian beach volleyballers can reap a similar reward at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
