Austrian teams cultivate hopes of home glory at #EuroBeachVolleyU22 in Baden

Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer, albeit only 17 and 18 years old, are the reigning U18 European champions. They will be chasing further success in the U22 division – in a season where they have already left their mark on the domestic and international stage, securing gold medals from the MEVZA Zonal Tour event held in Innsbruck this past May as well as at the Beach Pro Tour Futures contested in Leuven, Belgium, this past week. 

Their toughest competitors will most probably come from Czechia, Poland, and Ukraine. Czechia’s Anna and Katerina Pavelkova are the defending U22 European champions as they claimed gold at last year’s event in Türkiye. They have further cemented their status as rising stars by emerging victorious from a home Futures event held in Prague. Last year’s silver medal winners Malgorzata Ciezkowska/Urszula Lunio are returning to #EuroBeachVolleyU22 as well. This season, they have progressed to the quarterfinals of Challenge events organised in Alanya (Türkiye) and Warmia Mazury (Poland). Ukraine’s Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk, who lost the bronze medal match in 2024, are ‘hot’ contenders for a podium finish as well. 

Anna Hammarberg/Emma Hohenauer and Alisa Zoe Boyd/Jana Zierler will represent Austria as well. 

Austria has high hopes of home success in the men’s tournament as well. Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg have an impressive resume when it comes to age-group competitions, including a silver medal from the 2023 edition of the U21 World Championships. Berger and Hammarberg have established themselves as a force to reckon with in the ‘senior’ category as well – as earlier this season they progressed to the quarterfinals of an Elite Pro Tour event held in Brasilia. Their most challenging opponents will be reigning U20 European champions Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auzins of Latvia. Fokerots has become a real sensation following his rather unexpected EuroBeachVolley gold-medal run in the late summer of 2024 with the experienced Martins Plavins. Another team to watch out for will be Norway’s Adrian Mol and Even Stray Aas, who claimed the silver medal last year in Türkiye losing only the final match to Sweden’s Elmer Andersson and Jacob Hölting Nilsson. France’s Arthur Canet and Téo Rotar have been playing with different partners on the World Tour, yet they will reunite for the U22 competition hoping to add another accolade to their ever-growing resume. 

Michael Klemen/Philipp Sponer and Moritz Nedetzky/Elias Holzinger complete the Austrian contingent. 

The hopes are high and Austrian fans are going to be treated to a real show when this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU22 takes place in the iconic setting of the Strandbad in Baden. 

Pictures courtesy of Rainer Mirau and Florian Schrötter