Sweden back at the top of the podium at U22 EuroBeachVolley
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Sweden emerged as the winners of the CEV U22 EuroBeachVolley on the men’s side for the third time in four seasons on Sunday, in Termal, while Czechia got to take gold for the first time since 2010 among the women in the Turkish city.
After seeing reigning European champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig triumph in the tournament in 2021 and Åhman join forces with Jacob Hölting Nilsson to top the podium in 2022, the Swedish didn’t win medals in 2023.
This year, however, Nilsson paired with 17-year-old Elmer Andersson to put their country at the top again, downing Norwegians Adrian Mol, the younger brother of Olympic champion Anders, and Even Aas in the tie-breaker (26-28, 21-19, 15-12) in the gold medal match in Türkiye.
Bronze in Termal went to French Artur Canet and Téo Rotar, last year’s U20 European champions, who defeated Latvians Sandis Berzins and Olivers Bulgacs in straight sets (21-15, 21-18) to finish in third place in their first appearance in the event.
The women’s tournament in Termal was the stage of the second victory of the Czech Pavelková twins Katerina and Anna in an age group tournament in the continent, following their triumph at the U18 EuroBeachVolley in 2022. Czechia had last taken the title in 2008, when the age group was U23 and Marketa Sluková and Kristyna Kolocová were the winners.
In the gold medal match, the 18-year-old Czechs were taken to the tie-breaker by Polish Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio, who won the U20 continental title last year, but managed to triumph 2-1 (14-21, 21-17, 15-10) to top the podium.
Latvians Līva Ēbere and Deniela Konstantinova finished in third place after their three-set (17-21, 21-19, 15-12) victory over Ukrainians Daria Romaniuk and Yeva Serdiuk in the bronze medal match in Termal.
The two other age group European Championships will be held later in the season, with the U18 event set to take place in Kachreti, Georgia, from July 11-14, and the U20 tournament scheduled for July 25-28 in Mysłowice, Poland.