Mallorca hosts the final events of the season
Futures in Europe
After 15 stops in ten countries over the last five months, the second season of Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe is about to shut down and the Spanish island of Mallorca will be the last to host international competition in the continent in 2023.
Set to welcome an international beach volleyball event for the first time since 2008, Mallorca will host two weeks of action, with the women getting on the court first at the Hotel & Sport Center Na Taconera this week, from Wednesday to Sunday – the men will play from October 25-29.
With 26 of the 28 duos entered in the tournament hailing from Europe, the continent is expected to have another strong weekend in Mallorca, repeating what has happened during the entire season.
As many as 17 European nations will be represented in the event, with Switzerland having a tournament-high four entries, followed by Italy, with three, and Czechia, Estonia, France and hosts Spain with two. Belgium, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Slovakia will have one duo each, as will non-Europeans China and the United States.
The event in Mallorca will begin with the qualifier, on Wednesday, when 16 duos will compete for the last four spots in the main draw. Pool play starts on Thursday, with the medal matches ending the event on Sunday.
The only team among the 28 entrants to have appeared at this year’s CEV EuroBeachVolley, Swiss Menia Bentele and Anna Lutz are the top-seeded duo in this week’s event. The two, who finished 17th in Vienna in August, have medaled in the last two Futures events they played, taking bronze in Baden and gold in Cervia.
The most accomplished player on the field, however, is undoubtedly Czech star Marketa Sluková. A three-time Olympian, the 35-year-old defender had to deal with two partner changes during the season and will in Mallorca play for the first time with 21-year-old Kylie Neuschaeferova – the two are seeded second.
Completing the top three in the Mallorca Futures main draw entry list are Estonians Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg. Partners since 2015, the two are also coming from podium appearances in their last two events, having won silver at both the Corigliano Rossano and the Warsaw Futures.
Also guaranteed in the main draw in Mallorca are China’s Lingdi Zhu/Shuting Cao, France’s Pia Szewczyk/Saofé Duval, Switzerland’s Leona Kernen/Muriel Bossart, Greece’s Liza Triantafillidi/Dionysia Matiou, Italy’s Valentina Cali/Eleonora Annibalini and Eleonora Sestini/Erika Ditta, Germany’s Janne Uhl/Paula Schürholz and Spain’s Nazaret Florian/Aina Munar and Anna Grisma/Sara Bisbé.
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.