Four spots in the Finals in play in Balıkesir this weekend

Four spots in the 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals will be in dispute this weekend in Balıkesir, as the Turkish city is set to host two Preliminary Phase pools per gender at Ören Beach over the next three days.

An exciting ‘country vs country’ competition introduced in 2022, which resembles the Davis Cup in tennis, the Beach Nations Cup will have the Finals of its fourth edition held in Espinho from July 17-20. Up to now, besides hosts Portugal, Spain and Estonia, on the women’s side, and Spain and the Netherlands, on the men’s side, have qualified, with five spots still up for grabs in each gender.

Pool G will get the action going in Balıkesir, with matches set to happen between Friday and Saturday, reuniting four countries in each gender.

On the men’s side, Czechia, which will be represented by Tomas Semerad/Adam Stocek and Adam Waber/Matyas Jezek, and Norway, which will have Sebastian Kjemperud/Jonah Utvik and Nils Ringøen/Even Aas in their squad, appear as the favorites to finish at the top of the standings.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Men’s Pool G

Romania, which have Andrei Grigore/Eduard Popa and Adrian Onofrei/Victor Bula, and Serbia, which will count on Djordje Klasnic/Marko Makaric and Uros Muskinja/Danilo Nikolic, will also attempt to qualify in the Turkish event.

Among the women, Germany, which will feature the teams of Sophia Neuss/Mareet Maidhof and Janne Uhl/Paula Schürholz, stand out as the most traditional beach volleyball nation in the pool. Czechia, which will send Julie Honzovicova/Anna Pavelková and Andrea Lorenzova/Mariana Tomasova to Balıkesir, should be the main threat for the Germans.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Women’s Pool G

Also competing in the women’s Pool G will be Bulgaria, with Eva Petrova/Antoniya Nikolova and Vili Tsenova/Raya Tsenova, and Slovakia, with Kristina Harmanova/Lesia Slezakova and Barbora Tokosova/Martina Terenova.

Olympians to appear in Pool A

Between Saturday and Sunday, it will be time for Pool A matches on both genders, featuring three players who appeared at last year’s Paris Olympics.

Defending champions France account for two of them - Rémi Bassereau, who’s now playing with Calvin Aye, and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, who has Téo Rotar by his side. Bassereau, Rotar and Gauthier-Rat were all part of the French squad that won the Beach Nations Cup title in 2024, earning a second spot for their country at the Paris Olympics.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Men’s Pool A

Challenging the French in Balıkesir will be the Croatian duos of Tin Devald/Josip Pribanic and Jurica Skorin/Hrvoje Zelenika, the Estonian teams of Jaan Rebel/Kaur Kais and Mart Tiisaar/Dimitriy Korotkov and the Turkish tandems of Sacit Kurt/Ahmet Tür and Yusuf Özdemir/Batuhan Kuru.

On the women’s side, the Netherlands will start the defense of the title they won in 2024. Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis, who were part of the Dutch squad last season, are back, this time as partners, while two-time Olympian Raisa Schoon joins forces with Mila Konink to form the country’s second duo this weekend.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Women’s Pool A

Standing in the way of the Dutch in Balıkesir this week will be Denmark’s Cirkeline Høg/Charlotte Kroyer and Frida Lyø/Anna Hauge, Romania’s Andreea Corcoz/Ioana Hododi and Beata Vaida/Francesca Alupei and Türkiye’s Merve Nezir/Su Simdim and Nursel Sencel/Merve Celebi.