Spanish celebrate double triumph in Madrid

Spanish duos made great use of homecourt advantage and triumphed in the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup 2024 Preliminary Phase pools held in Madrid in both genders, advancing to the Finals of the tournament.

With the victories of their women’s and men’s teams, Spain became the 12^th different country confirmed to compete in Jurmala, Latvia, from June 13-16, when a spot at the Paris Olympics will be in play for each gender.

Led by last year’s EuroBeachVolley silver medalists Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno, the Spanish women overcame competition from Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Israel and Norway to finish at the top in Pool C.

The Spanish duos won all six matches they played over the three days of competition in Madrid, dropping just one set and beating opponents from England, Israel and Norway. The final series against the Norwegians saw Álvarez and Moreno defeat Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Emilie Olimstad 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) and their compatriots Liliana Fernández and Paula Soria prevail over Oda Steinsvåg and Frida Bentsen also in two sets (21-14, 21-19).

Beach Nations Cup – Women’s Pool C

With the victory, Spain are set to join host country Latvia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine in the Finals. Two of the three remaining spots will be awarded later this week in pools held in Vlinius and Balikesir while the 12th and final berth will be allocated to the National Federation with the highest position in the CEV Country Ranking as of June 10th, 2024, among all those finishing as runners-up in the 2024 Preliminary Phase.

The men’s home team had a similarly successful campaign on their way to the top of the podium of Pool B at the Parque Deportivo Puerta de Hierro, securing wins over Finland, Denmark and Israel – also competed in the event duos from Bulgaria, Czechia and Northern Ireland.

The Huerta brothers Alejandro and Javier started the final series against Israel with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) win over Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov and veterans Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira followed it up with another sweep (21-13, 21-16), this one against Tomer Hadar and David Lanciano.

Beach Nations Cup – Men’s Pool B

Spain are the ninth country guaranteed in the men’s Finals, alongside host country Latvia, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The final three berths will be awarded to the winners of Preliminary Phase pools in Vilnius, Balikesir and Hamburg later this week.

The Beach Nations Cup has a different competition format, promoting ‘country vs. country’ battles. Each nation is represented by two teams and the duels take place in a best-of-three format, with the decider, if needed, being a 15-point golden set.