Olympians in action at home in Brno
Futures in Europe
With a pair of Olympians from hosts Czechia among the contenders, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures tournament in Brno begins on Thursday, bringing international beach volleyball back to the country two months after the conclusion of the Ostrava Elite16.
The four-day tournament held at the Sokolske Koupaliste will feature as many as 112 athletes from 22 countries, but all eyes will be in two of the most successful players in Czech beach volleyball history, Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Sluková.
Partners from 2015 to 2021, the two represented their country at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics and won four international gold medals together. Since 2021, Hermannová has been playing with Marie-Sara Štochlová while Sluková will make her first international appearance with Karin Zolnercikova this week in Brno.
The top-seeded duo in the event, the 32-year-old Hermannová and the 24-year-old Stochlová recently competed at the 2023 A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley, finishing 17th, and also won a bronze medal on a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Edmonton, Canada.
Marie-Sara Štochlová“We understand we are among the favorites, but we’re not the only team that can win the event. Dunarova and Resova were ninth at the EuroBeachVolley and Sluková will compete too, as well as some strong international teams. We accept our role, but there will be other strong teams in action too. Our goal is to win a medal, ideally the gold one.”
Czech Beach Volleyball Player
Sluková, 35, is having a more difficult season as after just a few months following her return to the sport after becoming a mother, she saw her partner, Helena Havelková, give up on beach volleyball and resume her volleyball career.
A three-time Olympian, Sluková has picked up the 21-year-old Zolnercikova for this week’s event, in which they start seeded third. The two have played in national tournaments in Austria and Poland, winning one gold and two silver medals in three appearances.
Besides the teams formed by the Olympians, hosts Czechia have two more duos guaranteed in the main draw in Brno – second-seeded Miroslava Dunarova/Daniela Resova, who also appeared at the 2023 EuroBeachVolley, and 12th-seeded Michaela Brinkova/Kristyna Adamcikova.
Also starting the Brno Futures in the women’s main draw are the Netherlands’ Wies Bekhuis/Desy Poiesz and Leanne van Vegten/Kirster Bröring, France’s Clémence Vieira/Aline Chamereau, Ukraine’s Marina Hladun/Tetiana Lazarenko, Finland’s Sara Sinisalo/Anniina Parkkinen, Denmark’s Clara Windeleff/Sofia Bisgaard, Sweden’s Tina Thurin/Sanna Thurin and Germany’s Nele Schmitt/Paula Schürholz.
The host country also has some of the strongest teams on the men’s side, with Jan Dumek and Jiri Sedlak seeded first and up-and-comers Jakub Sepka and Tomas Semerad in third place in the entry lists. Both teams have been active on the Beach Pro Tour this season and made deep runs on Elite16 events.
Also representing Czechia in the main draw will be 11th-seeded Vaclav Bercik/Matyas Dzavoronok and 12th-seeded Tadeas Trousil/David Westphal. The 22-year-old Trousil replaced Olympian Ondrej Perusic at the 2023 EuroBeachVolley, pairing with David Schweiner to finish ninth.
Also starting the Brno Futures in the main draw among the men will be Oman’s Ahmed Alhousni/Haitham Alshereiqi and Nouh Al-Jalbubi/Mazin Alhashmi, Norway’s Markus Mol/Jo Sunde, Austria’s Tim Berger/Lorenz Petutschnig, the Netherlands’ Thijs Nijeboer/Mart van Werkhoven, Spain’s Javier Huerta/Alejandro Huerta, Italy’s Tobia Marchetto/Jakob Windisch and England’s Frederick Bialokoz/Issa Batrane.
The tournament begins on Thursday with the qualifiers on both genders, which will have 16 teams playing for the last four spots in the main draw. Pool play will be held on Friday, with the elimination rounds following on Saturday and the semifinals and medal matches completing the event on 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 ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.