Müller and Tillmann start title defense on the right foot

Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann took a promising first step to defend their CEV EuroBeachVolley title on Wednesday, the first day of the 2025 edition of the tournament, when they won their opening match in Düsseldorf and secured a spot in the elimination rounds.

Playing in front of their home fans, the defending champions were among the 16 teams that started their campaigns at the Rochus Club with a victory and confirmed presence in the elimination rounds – another pool play win will take them directly to the Round of 16.

On Thursday, pool play will be completed, with eight duos advancing to the Round of 16 and another 16 making it to the Round of 24, which will be held on the same day. The Round of 16 and the quarterfinals will follow on Friday, the semifinals are scheduled for Saturday and the medal matches will take place on Sunday.

CEV EuroBeachVolley 2025 – Women

Supported by their home fans, Müller and Tillmann had an uneventful opening match, taking Spanish sisters Maria and Marta Carro down 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) in Pool H in one of the most lopsided matches of the first day of action in Düsseldorf.

The other match of the pool saw Polish Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio beat Lithuanians Daniele Kvedaraite and Jekaterina Kovalskaja also in straight sets (21-19, 21-19). Now, Germans and Polish will play for first place in the pool on Thursday, with Spanish and Lithuanians facing off for survival.

Also representing the host country, Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann had one of the biggest victories of the opening day in Düsseldorf, topping Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte in two sets (21-7, 21-16) in Pool E. They will now face French Olympians Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau, who started their campaign with a sweep (21-16, 21-18) of the Czech Pavelková twins Anna and Katerine.

Another German team, the one of Hanna-Marie Schieder and Karla Borger, also caused an upset on Wednesday, securing a three-set (19-21, 21-15, 15-9) victory over Italians Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi in Pool F. Their next opponents will be Spanish Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno, who topped Finland’s Sara Sinisalo and Taru Lahti in two sets (21-18, 21-14).

The home crowd energy also pushed Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne to victory in Düsseldorf – they got the better of Dutch Mila Konink and Raisa Schoon, winning in two sets (21-18, 21-18). The Germans are now set for what should be an exciting Pool C final against the Swiss Vergé-Dépré sisters Anouk and Zoé, who dominated young Polish Julia Radelczuk and Natalia Okla to a two-set (21-12, 27-25) victory in their debut.

In Pool A, Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth, who downed Lithuanians Ieva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite in straight sets (21-17, 21-16), and Czechs Kylie Neuschaeferova and Marie-Sára Štochlová, who upset Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil and won in two sets (21-18, 22-20), were the first teams to secure their spots in the elimination rounds.

The action in Pool B started with the Austrian Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja sweeping (21-16, 21-11) German wildcards Chenoa Christ and Anna-Chiara Reformat and Ukrainians Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk prevailing over Dutch Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis in a three-set (19-21, 23-21, 17-15) battle.

Pool D is set to have an exciting final after two-time EuroBeachVolley champions and Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova started their campaign with a 2-1 (16-21, 21-12, 16-14) victory over Spanish Sofía Izuzquiza and Sofía González and Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Leona Kernen cruised to beat Estonians Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg in straight sets (21-9, 21-14) in their debuts.

Looking for a direct spot in the Round of 16 out of Pool G on Thursday will be French Olympians Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard, who defeated Dutch Noa Sonneville and Brecht Piersma in two sets (21-18, 21-13), and Ukrainians Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko, who swept (23-21, 21-9) Germans Janne Uhl and Paula Schürholz.