Italians lead European medal sweep in Battipaglia
Futures in Europe
Led by hosts Italy, five different European countries made it to the podium of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event held in Battipaglia this weekend, highlighting another perfect week of play for teams from the continent at the international level.
Held at the beachfront Lido Spineta between Thursday and Sunday, the fifth Beach Pro Tour Futures event held in Europe in 2025 had Italian duos taking the first two spots in the men’s tournament, with Austria coming up in third place. Among the women, the Netherlands, Lithuania and France took gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
The men’s gold medal match in Battipaglia had two players who represented Italy at the Olympics on opposite sides of the net. At the end, Enrico Rossi, who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and partner Marco Viscovich took down Alex Ranghieri, who appeared at both the Rio 2016 and the Paris 2024 Games, and Manuel Alfieri in straight sets (21-14, 21-16) to finish first.
Beach Pro Tour Battipaglia Futures – Men
Olympians also made it to the third spot on the podium in Battipaglia as Austrian veterans Robin Seidl and Alexander Huber, who represented their country at the Rio 2016 Games, avoided an all-Italian podium by beating the home team of Tiziano Andreatta and Davide Benzi in the tie-breaker (21-19, 19-21, 17-15) to triumph in the bronze medal match.
Dutch qualifiers go all the way to win gold
The women’s tournament in Battipaglia had somewhat unexpected winners as 19-year-old Dutch Trijntje Veerbeek and Floor Hogenhout went all the way from the qualifier to the top of the podium, winning six matches to take the title.
In the gold medal match, they faced Lithuanians Ieva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite, who had also been their opponents in pool play, and won in straight sets (22-20, 21-15).
Beach Pro Tour Battipaglia Futures – Women
In Battipaglia, 22-year-old French Anouk Dupin won her third Beach Pro Tour medal with a third different partner in 2025 as Marine Kinna and her downed Dutch Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) to take bronze. She took gold in Valencia with Saofe Duval and claimed silver in Madrid with Alex Merle.
Next week will be a busy one for the Beach Pro Tour in Europe as double-gender events will be held in Prague, Czechia, and Sveti Vlas, Bulgaria, and a men-only tournament will take place in Krakow, Poland, between Thursday and Sunday.
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.