Swedish and Ukrainians take gold in Chennai
Beach Pro Tour
By winning four of the six medals in play, including both golds, and getting a podium sweep in the men’s tournament, European beach volleyball teams dominated the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event held in Chennai, India, which came to an end on Sunday.
Duos from Sweden, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Austria found their way to the podium of the second-to-last Challenge tournament of the 2024 season, which was held from Thursday to Sunday in the Asian country.
Fully occupied by European teams, the men’s podium was topped by Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, who defeated Dutch Leon Luini and Ruben Penninga 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) in the last of their eight matches in Chennai to, aged 19 and 18 respectively, become the youngest team to ever win gold in a Challenge event.
Elmer Andersson“We are feeling really good! We definitely did not expect this when we sat on the plane to India, so it’s really nice.”
Swedish Beach Volleyball Player
In the bronze medal match, Austrian temporary partners Philipp Waller and Timo Hammarberg confirmed the all-European podium by beating Australian Olympians Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert in straight sets (21-18, 21-15).
The women’s tournament saw Ukrainians Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko celebrate their first gold at the Challenge level and take Europe to the top of the podium with a straight-set (23-21, 21-17) victory over Americans Hailey Harward and Kylie Deberg.
Maryna Hladun“It’s amazing! This was the first time we won a gold medal from a Challenge tournament. We had a dream and it finally came true.”
Ukrainian Beach Volleyball Player
Europe had a shot at taking a fifth team to the podium in Chennai, but Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte couldn’t handle Americans Molly Shaw and Toni Rodriguez in the bronze medal match, falling in the tie-breaker (21-11, 20-22, 15-8) and settling for fourth.
The Beach Pro Tour will continue in Asia for a third-straight week, with the city of Nuvali, in the Philippines, hosting the last Challenge tournament of the season from November 28-December 1.