Europeans claim five medals at the Nuvali Challenge
Beach Pro Tour
Back in the Philippines for the second time in the 2025 season, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour saw five European teams claim medals at the Nuvali Challenge this weekend.
The highlights in the European success this weekend were the first victories of Spanish Adrián Gavira and Alejandro Huerta on the men’s side and Finnish Anniina Parkkinen and Valma Prihti in the women’s event. Duos from England, Italy and Lithuania also made it to the podium in the Philippines.
Playing only their sixth Beach Pro Tour event as partners, Gavira and Huerta had a strong campaign in Nuvali, and ended the weekend undefeated with six victories. On Sunday, they faced the English Bello twins Javier and Joaquin in the final and triumphed in the tie-breaker (21-17, 19-21, 17-15).
Adrián Gavira“It was a great match. They played very well and I’m very happy for our gold medal.”
Spanish Beach Volleyball Player
Also reuniting two European teams, the bronze medal match in Nuvali had Italians Alex Ranghieri and Manuel Alfieri topping Austrians Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller in three sets (17-21, 21-18, 15-12) to claim the last spot on the podium.
The women’s champions, Parkkinen and Prihti had an even more impressive campaign in the Philippines, starting the tournament in the qualifier and winning seven consecutive matches on their way to taking the title. On Sunday, in the gold medal match, they took down Lithuanians Ieva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-14, 15-11) to secure the title.
Czechs Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova had an opportunity to make it to the podium in third place, but fell to Australians Jasmine Fleming and Stefanie Fejes in three sets (13-21, 21-15, 15-13) in the bronze medal match and ranked fourth.
Next week, the Beach Pro Tour heads to the African continent, with the African city of Cape Town hosting an Elite event from Wednesday to Sunday.