Led by Mol/Sørum, Europeans win four medals in Montréal
Beach Pro Tour
Four European teams are set to cross the Atlantic and return home with medals following the conclusion of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in Montréal, which came to an end on Sunday.
In another strong showing, the continent was largely the most successful in the tournament held in Canada, performing a medal sweep on the men’s side and being represented in the women’s gold medal match.
Two weeks after winning the CEV EuroBeachVolley for a record fifth time, Norwegian superstars Anders Mol and Christian Sørum dominated at the international level too, defeating Swedish rising stars Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson in two sets (21-19, 21-13) to triumph in Montréal for a second-straight time, following their victory in 2023.
Christian Sørum“They are such a strong team and Swedish beach volleyball has a bright future. Playing them today in the final, we had to bring our best game. The future is starting to look dangerous for us with all Sweden has been doing, so we need to step up.”
Norwegian Beach Volleyball Player
The bronze medal match, which also featured two European duos, had an interesting meeting between the reigning world champions and the reigning Olympic champions. At the end, Czechs Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner topped Swedish David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig in the tie-breaker (14-21, 22-20, 20-18) to take the last spot on the podium.
Europe also had a shot at winning gold in the women’s tournament, with 2024 European champions Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann advancing all the way to the gold medal match, but the Germans were downed by the home team of Paris Olympic silver medalists Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, which won 2-0 (21-15, 22-20) and took the title.
Two-time European champions and Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova were in contention for bronze in Canada, but couldn’t handle Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil and fell in straight sets (21-14, 21-16), settling for fourth.
The next Elite event on the Beach Pro Tour calendar will be held in Europe, with the German city of Hamburg welcoming the top teams in the world from August 27-31.