Swiss and Latvians claim continental titles
U20 EuroBeachVolley
Duos from Switzerland and Latvia dominated the 2024 CEV U20 EuroBeachVolley, which came to an end on Sunday, in Mysłowice, Poland, with teams from four different countries in the continent earning medals and concluded the season of Age Group tournaments in the region.
Swiss and Latvians were the only ones to win medals in both genders in Mysłowice, with Austria, on the women’s side, and Sweden, among the men, also stepping at the podium in the event, which reunited 68 teams from 34 countries.
Swiss Muriel Bossart and Leona Kernen claimed the women’s title, continuing a path of success in Age Group tournaments that also includes gold in the 2021 U18 EuroBeachVolley and silver at last year’s U20 tournament. In the final in Poland, they prevailed over Latvians Līva Ēbere and Deniela Konstantinova in two sets (21-13, 21-14) to complete their campaign with seven victories and no sets lost.
Muriel Bossart“It was a great tournament and we’re very happy that we won. We stayed calm and focused and that allowed us to keep our level of play high and not lose any sets.”
Swiss Beach Volleyball Player
Bronze among the women went to reigning U22 European champions Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer of Austria, who defeated French Saofe Duval and Romane Sobezalz in the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-15, 15-12) to finish third.
The men’s champions, Latvians Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auziņš also have great success at the youth level, having won the 2022 U18 European title, as well as the U19 world title in that same year.
In the gold medal match in Mysłowice, the two overcame Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, the reigning U22 European champions, in three sets (26-28, 21-12, 15-11) to claim the title.
Kristians Fokerots“We’re very happy with our third gold medal. It’s a dream to win gold in all age groups and this was our last chance to do it in the U20 category. We started a little slow in pool play, but found our game in the elimination rounds. We weren’t at our best in the final, but it was still enough to win.”
Latvian Beach Volleyball Player
Switzerland took the last and final spot in the men’s podium with Tim Amrein and Julian Friedli downing Germans Tristan Frobel and Tamo Wust in straight sets (22-20, 21-13) to take bronze.