German women triumph in Espinho
Beach Nations Cup Finals
Continental powerhouse Germany added another title to their collection in women’s beach volleyball as the country triumphed in the fourth edition of the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup, which had the Finals coming to an end on Sunday in Espinho.
The winners of a record nine EuroBeachVolley titles on the women’s side and the only nation on the continent to have taken a female duo to the top spot of the podium at the Olympics, the Germans further consolidated themselves as a force in the continent with their victory at the Praia da Baía.
Undefeated during the entire week in Portugal, the Germans were challenged by up-and-coming Ukrainian duos in the series that decided the tournament, but won both duels to secure the title in Espinho.
The first match of the decisive series was extremely tight and had the country’s new team of Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne prevailing over Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil in the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-14, 15-13) to get the Germans ahead.
CEV Beach Nations Cup Finals – Women
One hour later, reigning EuroBeachVolley champions Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann went to the court and confirmed their status as the top team on the continent by beating Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko in straight sets (21-18, 21-8) to start the German celebrations in Portugal.
With the victory in Espinho, Germany also earned an extra spot in the upcoming 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, which is going to be held from November 14-23, in Australia, through the continental pathway.
Introduced in the European beach volleyball calendar in 2022, the Beach Nations Cup is an exciting ‘country vs country’ competition which resembles the Davis Cup in tennis.