Germans lead successful European week with three golds
Futures in Europe
European teams were dominant in their home sand this week on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, taking home 14 of the 15 medals in play in the Futures tournaments held in Ios, Greece, Messina, Italy, and Geneva, Switzerland, in what was an extremely successful four-day period for duos of the continent.
Tandems from beach volleyball powerhouse Germany were particularly important for the European success, accounting for five of the 14 medals won by duos from the continent, including three golds – Italy and Switzerland claimed two medals each, with France, Israel, Latvia and the Netherlands adding one.
The first German victory in the weekend happened on Saturday, when Tokyo Olympian Julia Sude and partner Lea Kunst defeated Australians Stefanie Fejes and Georgia Johnson 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) in the final of the Ios Futures to celebrate their first title together.
The women’s bronze medal match in Greece also had a European team topping one from abroad, with Ukrainians Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko downing Americans Madison Shields and Delaney Peranich in straight sets (21-16, 21-13).
The men’s final in Ios also featured a German duo, but this time the country had to settle for silver as Israelis Eylon Elazar and River Day got the better of Jonas and Benedikt Sagstetter, winning 2-1 (14-21, 21-17, 15-9) to secure their first title as partners.
The bronze medal match at the Mylopotas Free Beach Bar also pitted teams from the continent against each other, with Latvians Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics topping the home duo of Stavros Ntallas and Dimitrios Chatzinikolaou 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) to take the last spot in the podium.
In Messina, where another double-gender tournament was held, medals were awarded on Sunday and another German women's team was at the top of the podium as the final reunited two duos from the country. In the end, Anna-Lenna Grüne and Chenoa Christ topped Margareta Kozuch and Sarah Schneider in straight sets (21-13, 21-13) to stand above their compatriots.
Bronze went to the home team of Reka Orsi Toth and Giada Bianchi, which prevailed over Estonians Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg in two sets (21-17, 21-19).
Beach Pro Tour Messina Futures
The men's final in Italy also had a German team on top as Robin Sowa and Maximilian Just handed Dutch Mees Sengers and Dirk Boehlé a three-set (21-18, 18-21, 15-8) victory to finish first. It was the second title of the two, who also triumphed in Krakow, Poland, two weeks ago.
Hosts Italy also earned a spot on the men’s podium at the Piazza Duomo after Gianluca Dal Corso and Marco Viscovich emerged victorious in the domestic bronze medal match against Davide Benzi and Carlo Bonifazi, winning in two sets (21-14, 21-16).
The men’s tournament held in Geneva had duels between teams from France and hosts Switzerland in both medal matches on Sunday, with the countries splitting wins. The French won the most important of them, with reigning U20 European champions Téo Rotar and Arthur Canet beating Quentin Métral and Jonathan Jordan 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) for gold.
Switzerland’s revenge came in the bronze medal match, where Yves Haussener and Julian Friedli defeated Elouan Chouikh and Tom Altwies in straight sets (21-14, 21-15) to find their way to the podium.
The Austrian city of Baden will be the next to host Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe, with the double-gender tournament at the Weilburgpark being set to happen this week, from Thursday to Sunday (June 27-30).
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.