Menegatti/Gottardi and Abbiati/Andreatta triumph at Italian national championships

On Sunday, Marta Menegatti/Valentina Gottardi and Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta crowned themselves Italy’s Beach Volleyball national champions at the end of the competition held in Caorle.

Menegatti is now a six-time national champion – since she had previously seized the crown in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018. As for the 19-year-old Gottardi, this is her first ‘senior’ title after last year she had emerged victorious from the U20 competition alongside Aurora Mattavelli. This success caps an incredibly successful season for Menegatti and Gottardi – who in their first year together finished fifth at the World Championships in Rome as well as at EuroBeachVolley held in Munich only a few weeks ago.

Next to seizing the overall title, Menegatti and Gottardi won the final event in Caorle as well – where they beat Alice Gradini and Federica Frasca 2-0 (21-16, 22-20) in the gold medal match.

Andreatta and Abbiati claimed the men’s title courtesy of their consistent performances throughout the season. “This title crowns a long journey. We are a bit disappointed after losing in the semis here since we could not play for first and second place in this last tournament of the national tour,” said Abbiati.

Italian Beach Volleyball star Daniele Lupo claimed top honours from the event in Caorle – which he contested alongside Tokyo 2020 Olympian Edgars Tocs from Latvia. Lupo and Tocs recorded a 21-17, 21-19 win in the final match with Manuel Alfieri and Mauro Sacripanti. Marco Caminati and Enrico Rossi finished the competition in third place following their 21-10, 21-11 victory over newly crowned national champions Abbiati and Andreatta.

Valentina Gottardi and Daniele Lupo were the recipients of the awards for the Most Valuable Players of the competition held in Caorle.