Europeans make the double in Hamburg
Beach Pro Tour
Homecourt advantage helped European beach volleyball teams produce another strong showing on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour this week as duos from the continent won gold on both genders in the Elite event held in Hamburg, which came to an end on Sunday.
Led by Norwegian superstars Anders Mol and Christian Sørum, who topped the all-European men’s podium, and Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth, who triumphed in the women’s event, the continent collected four of the six medals in play over the week at the iconic Am Rothenbaum Stadium.
On the men’s side, Mol and Sørum confirmed their excellent moment, winning their third title in August - the Beach Volley Vikings started the month with a record fifth victory at the CEV EuroBeachVolley and also triumphed in a Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in Montréal two weeks ago.
Determined to defend the title they won in Hamburg last year, the Norwegians were very consistent throughout the tournament and ended their campaign with a two-set (25-23, 21-14) victory over Polish Olympians Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak in the gold medal match.
Christian Sørum“It’s amazing to win another tournament here in Hamburg. It was a true team effort. We have a big team behind us working many hours a day for us to perform. Poland played amazingly all tournament, it feels great to beat them and win gold again here in Hamburg.”
Norwegian Beach Volleyball Player
The bronze medal match, which also reunited two European duos, had Dutch Olympians Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot topping the 2024 European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia in straight sets (21-16, 21-10) to finish third in Hamburg for a second-straight year.
In the women’s event, Gottardi and Orsi Toth got to celebrate their first Beach Pro Tour title as partners in great style, taking down Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes, the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking, in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-18, 15-6), to take gold in Hamburg.
The Italians joined forces after the start of the 2025 season and earned their second medal together, following a silver in a Challenge event in Alanya, in June. The victory in Hamburg also marked the first gold for an Italian female team in an Elite event of the Beach Pro Tour.
Reka Orsi Toth“It’s such an honor to play here. When I was growing up, I used to watch my older sister (Tokyo Olympian Viktoria Orsi Toth) competing around the world and hope that one day I could play in a tournament like this. Winning gold here today is like a dream coming true.”
Italian Beach Volleyball Player
Europe could have had a fifth team on the podium in Hamburg, as the German duo of Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann played in the bronze medal match. Despite the support of thousands of their home fans, they fell to reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil in two sets (21-16, 21-18) and finished fourth.
European teams will now prepare for a two-week stint of the Beach Pro Tour in Brazil as the country is set to host back-to-back Elite events in João Pessoa (September 17-21) and Rio de Janeiro (September 25-28).