Olympic final rematch set to take place in Düsseldorf

A rematch of last year’s Paris Olympics gold medal match is set to take place on Saturday in Düsseldorf as Swedish David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig and Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler will meet in the men’s quarterfinals of the 2025 CEV EuroBeachVolley.

The gold and silver medalists of last year’s Games are among the eight men’s teams that continue alive after overcoming the Round of 16 on Friday at the Rochus Club. The four quarterfinal matches will be held on Saturday, while the semifinals and the medal matches will take place on Sunday.

Playing at home this week, Ehlers and Wickler were the last team to book a spot in the quarterfinals and they coincidentally did it against a Swedish duo, beating reigning U22 European champions Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson in the tie-breaker (21-13, 18-21, 19-17) in the Round of 16.

Åhman and Hellvig, who won gold last year in Paris and are chasing their third EuroBeachVolley title in four seasons this week, also needed all three sets to confirm their presence in Saturday’s quarterfinals, topping Dutch Matthew Immers and Ruben Penninga 2-1 (25-27, 21-17, 16-14) in the Round of 16.

2025 CEV EuroBeachVolley – Men

Saturday’s match will mark the first encounter between Germans and Swedish since last year’s Olympic final. Åhman and Hellvig have been vastly successful against Ehlers and Wickler, having won 12 of the 13 duels held so far, including the last 11.

Mol and Sørum take down defending champions

Four-time EuroBeachVolley champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, who took bronze last year in Paris, were pushed to three sets for the first time in Düsseldorf, but continue alive after they eliminated defending champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots, beating the Latvians 2-1 (22-20, 20-22, 15-6) in the Round of 16.

The Beach Volley Vikings will now play young Austrians Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg, who advanced thanks to a three-set (21-17, 17-21, 15-13) victory over the English Bello twins Javier and Joaquin in the Round of 16.

Reigning world champions Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner of Czechia are also among the quarterfinalists after they took down Israelis Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov in straight sets (21-18, 21-19) in the Round of 16. Their next opponents in Düsseldorf will be Dutch Olympians Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde, who swept (21-15, 28-26) Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan.

The fourth and last quarterfinal duel in Düsseldorf will feature Dutch Olympians Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Grook, who continue undefeated after eliminating Germans Paul Henning and Lui Wüst with a two-set (21-19, 21-11) victory in the Round of 16, and French Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, who defeated the German Sagstetter brothers Jonas and Benedikt also in straight sets (21-15, 21-15).