Italians and Swiss triumph in Cervia
Futures in Europe
European teams had another productive weekend on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour with duos from hosts Italy and Switzerland leading the continent’s efforts at the Cervia Futures, which resulted in podium sweeps.
On both genders, the top-seeded teams prevailed, with locals Tobia Marchetto and Jakob Windisch triumphing among the men and Swiss rising stars Menia Bentele and Anna Lutz taking the top spot among the women at the Fantini Club.
Marchetto and Windisch, who had also triumphed in their home sand at the Corigliano Rossano Futures earlier this month, overcame a pool play upset on Friday to win four straight matches and secure the title at the Italian northeastern coast.
In the gold medal match, the Italians dominated Hungarians Artúr Hajós and Bence Stréli to a straight-set victory (21-14, 22-20). Latvians Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics finished third after they downed Czech qualifiers David Westphal and David Lenc in another two-setter (21-11, 21-19).
The women’s tournament in Cervia saw Bentele and Lutz step on the podium in Italy for the second time this season, following a bronze-medal campaign at the Messina Futures, in July.
The two, who were 17th at the 2023 CEV EuroBeachVolley in August, were undefeated all weekend, winning all of their five matches to secure the title. The Swiss only dropped one set in the event, in the gold medal match, where they needed the tie-breaker (21-19, 22-24, 15-13) to overcome Italians Jessica Allegretti and Eleonora Annibalini.
Menia Bentele and Anna Lutz"The conditions weren't easy because there was a lot of wind. It's our first gold medal on the Beach Pro Tour and it feels good to get it after taking silver and bronze. We came here among the favorites and our goal was to win gold - it was great that we managed to do it."
Swiss Beach Volleyball Players
The 31-year-old Allegretti and the 32-year-old Annibali were the sensations of the women’s tournament, having gone all the way from the qualifier to the gold medal match in their first event together – the Italians played seven matches and won five of them.
Italy had another team on the podium as the Orsi Toth sisters Viktoria and Reka took third place after a three-set (21-12, 18-21, 15-8) win over compatriots Maria Mancinelli and Aurora Mattavelli.
The Spanish city of Mallorca will be the last to host Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe this season. The women will play first, from October 18-22, with the men getting on the court the following week.
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.