Sweden and Spain claim U22 European beach titles

Teams from Sweden and Spain stepped at the top of the podium of this year’s CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships, which came to an end on Sunday, with the victories of David Ahman/Jacob Nilsson and Daniela Alvarez/Tania Moreno in the Netherlands.

The men’s tournament, which was played in the Dutch city of Vlissingen, saw a Swedish team claim the gold medal for a second-straight season following the victory of Ahman and partner Jonatan Hellvig in 2021.

The 20-year-old defender went from hell to heaven in a matter of days as after being forced to withdraw from what would have been his first appearance at the Beach Volleyball World Championship due to an injury of Hellvig earlier his week, Ahman joined the 17-year-old Nilsson to take the title in Vlissingen and celebrate his fourth victory in a CEV Age Group event.

The two went undefeated in their campaign in the tournament, winning all their seven matches and dropping just two sets along the way. In the gold medal match, Ahman and Nilsson defeated Latvians Kristians Fokerots and Arturs Rinkevics in straight sets (21-17, 21-18).

Austrians Laurenc Grossig and Timo Hammarberg finished third after their three-set (21-12, 15-21, 15-11) victory against Lithuanians Mantas Donela and Karolis Palubinskas in the bronze medal match.

The women’s event was held in Bilthoven and saw Alvarez and Moreno improve from their fifth-place finish last year to make it to the top of the podium.

The 20-year-old Spanish were flawless all week, winning all their seven matches in straight sets and allowing their opponents to score more than 13 points in a set just once, in the gold medal match, where they topped Denmark’s Sofia Bisgaard and Clara Windeleff 21-18, 21-13.

For a second-straight season, Ukrainians Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko took bronze. This time, they defeated top-seeded Dutch Wies Bekhuis and Brecht Piersmans in two sets (21-16, 21-12) to step at the podium.

The CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championships will take place in Izmir, Turkey, from July 14-17, with the CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championships following in Loutraki, Greece, from September 1-4.