Europeans dominate Baden Challenge
Beach Pro Tour
European beach volleyball teams had another successful week on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, taking home all six medals in play at the Challenge event held in the Austrian city of Baden from Tuesday to Sunday.
Both podiums at the Thermalstrandbad Baden were filled with teams from the continent, as duos from Germany, the Netherlands and Ukraine occupied the three spots on the women’s side, while tandems from Sweden, Germany and France collected the men’s medals.
On the women’s side, Germans Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann got to celebrate their first title as partners on the Beach Pro Tour. In the gold medal match, they defeated Dutch Mila Konink and Raisa Schoon, who made their first podium appearance together, in straight sets (22-20, 21-9).
Linda Bock“The first set was really tough. We were always behind, but then at one point we got them with good serves. The sun was making it very difficult to pass in certain positions, and I thought we used it well. In the second set, we just went all in, and we did it.”
German Beach Volleyball Player
In the bronze medal match, Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil earned their first podium appearance at the Challenge level by taking down Finland’s Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti in two sets (21-18, 21-16).
Swedish get revenge and win gold
In the men’s tournament, Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson won their second title in the season and their fifth on the Beach Pro Tour by defeating Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler of Germany in two sets (21-18, 21-16).
The gold medal match was a repeat of an encounter that had happened just over one week ago, at the Round of 16 of the CEV EuroBeachVolley, which ended with a three-set victory of Ehlers and Wickler.
Elmer Andersson“It was almost the same game plan, but we served better and had a stronger side out. We knew that was what we had to do, and we did it this time, which was great. It was really fun playing here, the fans supported every team.”
Swedish Beach Volleyball Player
French Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Aye confirmed the all-European podium and secured their first medal as partners on the Beach Pro Tour by overcoming American Olympians Chase Budinger and Miles Evans in the tie-breaker (16-21, 21-17, 15-10) to take bronze.
From Europe, the Beach Pro Tour heads to North America next week as the Canadian city of Montreal is the event’s next destination, hosting an Elite event from Wednesday to Sunday.