#EuroBeachVolleyU20 crowns go to Russia and Slovenia

The 2021 edition of #EuroBeachVolleyU20 reached its climax on Sunday with the semis and medal matches in Izmir. Mariia Bocharova/Elizaveta Gubina of Russia and Rok Mozic/Rok Bracko of Slovenia emerged as the eventual winners of the women’s and men’s competition, respectively.

As many expected, Russian prodigy Mariia Bocharova reached the final match with interim partner Elizaveta Gubina. On Sunday, Bocharova and Gubina were on a class of their own as they defeated teams from the Netherlands and Spain in the semis and the final, respectively, without dropping a single set. This way, Bocharova could add another continental title to her almost endless list of honours from age-group competitions.

Denmark’s Sofia Nørager Bisgaard and Clara Windeleff needed only 29 minutes to secure a historic bronze medal for their country as they beat Dutch duo Brecht Piersma and Desy Poiesz 2-0 (21-19, 21-11). In the final of women’s competition, Mariia Bocharova and Elizaveta Gubina claimed the gold medal match 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) over Spanish team Tania Moreno Matveeva – whose mother Olga played Beach Volleyball internationally for both Russia and Spain – and Ana Vergara.

In the men’s competition, Norway’s Markus Mol and Jo Gladsøy Sunde made it to the final as they beat Hungary’s sensation Marcell Mikulass Koch and Vilmos Szabo 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) in 33 minutes. In the other semi-final matchup, Slovenia’s Rok Mozic/Rok Bracko defeated Italy’s Theo Hanni and Filippo Fusco in two sets too (21-14, 21-16).

Later in the afternoon, Hanni and Fusco fought hard and eventually secured the bronze medals as they beat Mikulass Koch and Szabo 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-10).

In the final of the men’s competition, Rok Mozic/Rok Bracko delivered a great performance as they beat Markus Mol and Jo Gladsøy Sunde with a double 21-15. Mozic and Bracko had previously claimed a silver medal from the U18 championship held in Baden, Austria, back in 2019.