Sweden & Norway capturing Gold at Oddane Sand!

Veteran and Oddane sand lover Martin Appelgren finally made it to the top of the Podium in this year’s NEVZA edition. After losing the final last year, he showed a stellar performance pulling off back-to-back final this year together with Fabian Ramén. 

After winning the first set easy versus Norwegians Marius Pande and Magnus Helgerud, the Swedes lost their momentum and had no chance versus the Norwegians in the second set. It looked as history was to repeat for Appelgren as he was down 8-13 in the third set, but the Norwegians learned a hard lesson – never celebrate the win before last ball is down. The Norwegians made a few mistakes, the Swedes got a couple of aces in the challenging wind, and on 15-14 for the swedes, Fabian Ramén delivered a monstrous block to finish the game. We were happy for Appelgren to see him on the top of the podium as he stated: “10 years of trying here in Oddanesand, so nice to finally get to the top of the podium!” He also promised to be back next year!!

On the women’s side, Danish Clara Windeleff and Astrid Elisabeth Mellmølle played well during the whole tournament. Windy conditions have never been a problem for Danish players, and Windeleff/Mellmølle showed no mercy on their way to the finals. In the finals they were up against young and talented Frida Berntsen with her superb blocking partner Oda Løvø Steinsvåg. The two young Norwegians have been showing great skills lately and delivering a lot of good results. So they did in this tournament. The Danes played well, but it was not enough to beat the Norwegians. Frida and Oda ran away with the gold after winning the finals 2 to nothing. 

Beautiful Oddane sand showed great weather once again. NEVZA finished on Thursday afternoon – almost 40 years after the first ever beach volleyball tournament in Norway was held here at Oddane sand. We’re proud to say this Friday, Saturday and Sunday the courts will be filled with nearly 300 kids and families that are taking part in beach camps ran by Camps R’us, followed by a Norwegian tour tournament. Several hundred new and experienced players are taking part in this multi event – and we can’t wait to welcome you all back next year as we congratulate the winners from Sweden and Denmark!