Åhman and Hellvig triumph at Hamburg Elite16
Beach Pro Tour
Swedish stars David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig continue on fire after their victory at the 2023 A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley as the two secured another major title on Sunday, triumphing at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event held in Hamburg, Germany.
The Swedish jumpsetters topped the all-European podium of the men’s event in Germany, which also featured second-placed Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava and third-placed Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sørum. Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann represented Europe on the women’s podium, in third place.
The men’s gold medal match at the historic Am Am Rothenbaum Stadium was a repeat of the semifinals of the EuroBeachVolley and, as was the case two weeks ago in Vienna, it was a thriller, with two of the best teams in the world battling on the sand.
Åhman and Hellvig, who started their campaign in Hamburg with a pool play loss to Nicolai and Cottafava, got back on the Italians in the final, securing their second Beach Pro Tour title of the season with a 2-1 (21-16, 22-24, 21-19) win.
David Åhman“It was a crazy match. We’ve played them three times in the last few weeks and all matches went to three sets and were super close. They’re an amazing team, we had to give our all and it was very close, but we made it, and we’re so happy. This has been an unbelievable tournament for us.”
Swedish Beach Volleyball Player
Reigning Olympic and world champions Mol and Sørum missed the final of a Beach Pro Tour event for the first time in the season, but still made it to the podium in Hamburg, finishing third after their straight-set (21-19, 21-16) victory over Brazilians Andre Loyola and George Wanderley in the bronze medal match.
The only European team in action on the last day of the women’s event in their home sand Hamburg, Müller and Tillmann lost to Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) in the semifinals, but bounced back immediately and took bronze with a strong two-set (21-15, 21-19) win over Brazilians Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado. Another Brazilian team, the one formed by Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos, took gold in Germany.
The next Elite16 event of the 2023 Beach Pro Tour season will also be held in Europe, with the French capital Paris, the host city of next year’s Olympics, staging a tournament from September 27-October 1.