Beach Volleyball

Europeans claim eight Beach Pro Tour medals in Poland and Slovenia

News

Article Mon, Aug 1 2022
Author: Guilherme Torres

It was another successful weekend for European teams at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour as eight teams from six different nations in the continent stepped on the podium in the Futures events held in Myslowice, Poland, and Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Six European teams found their way to the podium in Myslowice

In Myslowice, European teams had extremely successful campaigns, taking home all six medals that were in play. The women’s gold medal match reunited two teams that will compete at the #EuroBeachVolley next month, with Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Diana Lunina finishing in first place after their straight-set (21-18, 21-18) victory against the home team of Katarzyna Kociolek and Marta Lodej.

Dutch Wies Bekhuis and Brecht Piersma guaranteed the all-European podium after they topped Chinese Xinxin Wang and Jingin Zeng in two sets (21-18, 21-16) to secure the bronze medals.

Davidova in action during the tournament in Poland

The host country also had to settle for silver in the men’s event, with Jakub Szalankiewicz and Mateusz Florczyk making it to the final, but falling to Lithuanians Audris Knasas and Patrikas Stankevicius in two sets (21-16, 21-9).

A Polish team also claimed the bronze medals with Pawel Lewandowski and Jakub Zdybek taking Austrians Moritz Kindl and Mathias Seiser down in straight sets (21-9, 21-19) to finish in third place in their home event.

In Ljubljana, the event that attracted good crowds to Congress Square ended with silver medals for European duos in both genders. Among the women, the home team of Tjasa Kotnik and Maja Marolt made a remarkable run to the final in their first event as partners – the 18-year-old Marolt replaced Kotnik’s usual partner Tajda Lovsin, who was injured.

Kotnik and Marolt made it to the final in their first event together

The Slovenians, however, were stopped by Chinese two-time Olympian Fan Wang and her partner Lingdi Zhu, who came out on top in the tight three-set (21-19, 22-24, 15-12) gold medal match. Another Chinese duo, the one of Tokyo Olympian Xinyi Xia and partner Meimei Lin, claimed bronze.

“There is, of course, some disappointment when we realize how we close we were to the title. But considering we had never played together before and that we were able to win so many matches, it’s clear that we were able to maintain a very high level during the entire event and we can be satisfied with that.”

Tjasa Kotnik
Slovenian Beach Volleyball Player

Belgian brothers Gilles and Louis Vandecaveye were the sensations of the men’s tournament. The two started the event in the qualifier and won six of their first seven matches in Ljubljana, knocking out two Olympians, on their way to the gold medal match.

The Vandecaveye brothers ended the week with six wins and just two losses in Ljubljana

The Europeans fought until the end, but ended up falling to Argentinean top-seeded Bautista Amieva and Leo Aveiro in three sets (21-17, 18-21, 18-16) and had to settle for silver. Bronze went to Australians Thomas Hodge and Zachery Schubert, who topped Serbians Lazar Kolaric and Djordje Klasnic 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) and denied the presence of a second European team on the podium.

Next week, for the first time since mid-June, no Beach Pro Tour Futures will be held in Europe. The schedule resumes with simultaneous tournaments in Budapest, Hungary, and Cortagaça, Portugal, from August 11-14.

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