#BeachNationsCup starts this week in Madrid
Beach Nations Cup
The fourth edition of the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup is set to start this week, with teams from six countries getting in action in Madrid, Spain, where a men’s and a women’s pool will be held from Tuesday to Wednesday.
An exciting ‘country vs country’ competition introduced in 2022 which resembles the Davis Cup in tennis, the Beach Nations Cup will run for the next ten weeks, culminating with the Finals, which will be held in Espinho from July 17-20, reuniting hosts Portugal and the seven pool winners in each gender.
Home to a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures men’s event last weekend and set to welcome a similar women’s tournament next weekend, the Parque Deportivo Puerta de Hierro will be the stage for both the men’s and women’s pools this week.
On the men’s side, four countries will be in contention this week – hosts Spain, Ukraine, Belgium and Northern Ireland -, with the winners becoming the first nation qualified for the Finals.
The Spanish team will be led by the Huerta brothers Alejandro and Javier, who stepped on the podium in Beach Pro Tour Futures events held in Europe in the last two weeks, taking gold in Valencia and bronze in Madrid. Playing alongside them will be Antonio Saucedo and Álvaro Viera.
Ukraine will have the most successful team in the event, the one of Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik, which won the country’s first-ever medal in the EuroBeachVolley, taking bronze in 2023. The two will have Ivan Datsiuk and Oleksii Bublyk by their side in the country’s roster.
CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup – Men’s Pool C
Belgium will be represented by Daan Hendrikx/Christophe Witvrouwen and Berre Peters/Wout Nuyttens, while Northern Ireland will send Gavin McCaughern/Paddy Dally and Jeff Scott/Jonathan Workman to Madrid this week.
Three teams in women’s Pool E
On the women’s side, competition in Pool E will reunite three countries with hosts Spain battling Slovenia and Hungary for a spot in the Finals. The Spanish will have Marta Carro/Sofía González and Nazaret Florian/Adriano Serrano as their representatives.
CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup – Women’s Pool E
On the Slovenian team, Živa Javornik and Tajda Lovsin get to Madrid fresh from winning bronze in a Beach Pro Tour Futures event held in Cervia, Italy, on Sunday – they will play alongside Tjasa Kotnik and Maja Marolt in Madrid.
To make it the podium in Italy, the Slovenians defeated the top Hungarian team of Stefánia Kun and Lilla Villám in the bronze medal match. The second Hungarian team in Madrid will have Chiara Honti-Majoros and Adrienn Szabó.