Europeans win eight medals in the last events of the season
Futures in Europe
The 2024 season of Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in events in Europe came to an end this weekend in great fashion as teams from the continent took home eight of the nine medals in play in the two events held in Türkiye and Spain.
The double-gender Balıkesir Futures had European sweeps on both genders, with duos from Italy, Norway, Ukraine, Estonia and Austria finding their way to the podium at the Ayvalik Sarimsakli Plaji.
The men’s tournament had an all-Italian gold medal match, with Manuel Alfieri and Tiziano Andreatta beating compatriots Enrico Rossi and Marco Caminati in straight sets (21-19, 21-17) to top the podium.
The dispute for bronze also reunited two teams from the same country, with Norwegians Even Aas and Jo Gladsøy Sunde downing the Mol brothers Markus and Adrian in two sets (21-17, 21-15) to collect a medal.
Beach Pro Tour Balıkesir Futures
The women’s tournament had the second straight victory of Ukrainians Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk, who had triumphed in Warsaw two weeks ago. In the final in Türkiye, they topped Estonians Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg in the tie-breaker (24-26, 21-16, 28-26) to take the title.
Bronze went to Austrians Franziska Friedl and Lia Berger, who made it to the podium in their first tournament together. To finish third, the two overcame Czechs Valerie Dvorníková and Anna Pospisilova in three sets (18-21, 21-14, 16-14).
In Castellón, two more medals were won by European teams, with duos from France and the Netherlands taking silver and bronze, respectively.
French Elsa Descamps and Romane Sobezalz advanced all the way to the gold medal match at the beachfront C. Astrónom Francesc Aragó, but fell to Americans Madelyne Anderson and Brook Bauer in the tie-breaker (19-21, 23-21,15-9), taking silver as their first-ever international medal.
In the bronze medal match, Dutch Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz, secured their second podium appearance in just two events together, beating Swiss Mena Bentele and Muriel Bossart 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-9) to finish third.
Beach Pro Tour Castellón Futures
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable international ranking points.