Double Austrian victory pleases the fans in Baden
Futures in Europe
Baden continues to be Austria’s home sand in international beach volleyball as teams from the host country triumphed on both genders of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures tournament held in the city this week.
While Martin Ermacora and Philipp Waller secured the men’s title at the Weilburgpark Baden on Sunday, the last day of competition, the Klinger sisters Ronja and Dorina Klinger topped the podium in the women’s tournament, which came to an end on Saturday.
Austrian teams have won the men’s title in Baden each year since the city started hosting international beach volleyball events, in 2018. This was, however, just the second time that the women managed to do the same, giving the home fans victories in both genders.
Partners since March, Ermacora and Waller celebrated the first title of their team with their straight-set (21-14, 21-16) victory over the temporary team formed by compatriots Alexander Horst and Timo Hammarberg in the final. It was the second win of Waller in Baden as he had triumphed in an FIVB World Tour event in the city in 2018.
Philipp Waller“It was so nice to get the win and have a good performance in front of these amazing fans. I’m very proud of how we performed here, Martin’s blocking was incredible. It’s crazy that we took the title without losing a set.”
Austrian Beach Volleyball Player
The German Sagstetter brother Jonas and Benedikt confirmed the all-European podium in Baden with their 2-1 (23-25, 24-22, 15-13) win over Americans Hagen Smith and Logan Webber in the bronze medal match.
The women’s tournament was dominated by the Klinger sisters, who secured the title with five wins and didn’t lose a single set during the three days of competition in Baden. In the gold medal match, the two, who finished 17th at the 2023 A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley, defeated young Swiss Leona Kernen and Annique Niederhauser for the second time in the week, getting a 2-0 (21-12, 21-19) win.
Dorina Klinger“We played a great tournament and Ronja scored the important points. We are extremely happy about our first victory in Baden.”
Austrian Beach Volleyball Player
Another Swiss team, formed by Menia Bentele and Anna Lutz, took bronze in Baden, prevailing over Germans Melanie Paul and Hanna-Marie Schieder in the tie-breaker (21-17, 22-24, 15-13).
Next week will be a busy one for the beach Pro Tour, with three Futures tournaments going on at the same time in Europe. The French city of Montpellier and the Polish town of Wilanow will host men’s events while Italy’s Corigliano Rossano welcomes a double-gender tournament.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.