French and Germans lead European podium sweeps in Lille
Futures in Europe
The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event in Lille came to an end on Sunday with excellent results for European beach volleyball as the event had two podium sweeps by teams from the continent and victories from duos of hosts France and Germany.
The event held at the Place de la République saw a pair of dark horses walk away with gold, with the home duo of Elouan Chouikh and Tom Altwies claiming the men’s title and young German qualifiers Melanie Paul and Hanna-Marie Schieder securing gold among the women.
Seeded 14th in the main draw, the 21-year-old Chouikh and Altwies knocked down top-seeded compatriots and tournament favorites Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauhtier-Rat with a two-set (21-16, 21-19) win the semifinals.
The French maintained their good form in the gold medal match and overcame the Belgian brothers Louis and Gilles Vandecaveye also in two sets (21-17, 21-19) to secure the title in front of their home fans.
Krou and Gauthier-Rat bounced back from their semifinal loss and topped the German brothers Jonas and Benedikt Sagstetter in straight sets (21-15, 21-17) to find their way to the podium in Lille.
The women’s tournament in Lille also had unexpected winners with 22-year-old German qualifiers Paul and Schieder winning the title in their first tournament as partners with a campaign of seven wins and one loss in the French city.
In the gold medal match, Paul and Schieder met the home team of Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamerau, who they had faced in their first main draw match on Friday. The outcome was the same as two days ago, with the Germans winning in the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-17, 18-16) to secure gold.
French Anouk Dupin and Ophelie Lusson gave the host country another medal and confirmed another all-European podium in the 2023 Beach Pro Tour season by topping Argentineans Maia Najul and Cecilia Peralta in the two-set (21-13, 21-13) bronze medal match.
The Greek island of Ios will be the next stop of the Beach Tour Futures in Europe, hosting a double-gender event next week, from Wednesday to Saturday.
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 ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.