Perušič and Schweiner lead double Czech victory in Brno
Futures in Europe
World champions Ondrej Perušič and David Schweiner led hosts Czechia to a memorable week on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, helping the country win four medals in front of their home fans at the Brno Futures, which came to an end on Sunday.
The home country won gold and silver in the men’s tournament at the Sokolske Koupaliste, which also had a team from Sweden at the podium, and took gold and bronze among the women, with a duo from Brazil taking silver to avoid a full European medal sweep.
Playing in a Futures event for the first time in their careers, two-time Olympians Perusic and Schweiner made it to the gold medal match with just one set dropped, but they lost another one to compatriots and qualifiers Adam Waber and Matyáš Ježek before beating them in the tie-breaker (19-21, 21-16, 15-7) to take the title. It was their second victory in the season, following a title at the Stare Jablonki Challenge back in June.
David Schweiner"Matyáš and Adam are extremely skilled and they almost beat us today. They did a great job at the start of the match. We are very happy for the win, but at the same time it is good to see that a strong and very promising generation is growing up behind us."
Czech Beach Volleyball Player
The all-European bronze medal match in Czechia had young Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson beating the Spanish Huerta brothers Javier and Alejandro in straight sets (21-19, 21-11) to make it to the podium for a second straight time after winning gold in Rakvere in July.
In the women’s tournament, 22-year-old Kylie Neuschaeferová and 21-year-old Markéta Svozilová were the ones to take the host country to the top of the podium. In the final, they defeated Brazilian qualifiers Juliana Simões and Carol Goerl in two sets (21-17, 21-11) to celebrate their first Beach Pro Tour title.
Kylie Neuschaeferová"Serving well and playing with courage helped us today. We went into the match with everything we had, we didn't give anything up and we fought for every ball. I think that gold is the reward for our hard work. We are very happy."
Czech Beach Volleyball Player
Paris Olympians and last year’s Brno Futures champions Barbora Hermannová and Maria-Sára Štochlová had to settle for bronze in their home tournament this time, dominating compatriots Miroslava Dunárová and Daniele Mokrá to produce a 2-0 (21-10, 21-11) victory.
Next week, Futures events will be held in two different locations across Europe, with a double-gender tournament heading to Corigliano Rossano, in Italy, from Thursday to Sunday and the men playing in Warsaw, Poland, in the same period.
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 international ranking points.