Beach Volleyball

Ukrainians and Germans start at full force in Espinho

Beach Nations Cup Finals

Article Thu, Jul 17 2025
Author: Guilherme Torres

The 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals got underway in Espinho on Thursday and Ukraine and Germany were the countries to enjoy the most success in the women’s tournament after they saw their teams go undefeated in the first day of matches at the Praia da Baía.

Khmil and Davidova didn't drop a set in Espinho on Thursday

Germans and Ukrainians both ended the day leading their respective pools in Portugal and are already guaranteed in the elimination rounds of the event, which was introduced in the European beach volleyball calendar in 2022 and is an exciting ‘country vs country’ competition which resembles the Davis Cup in tennis.

Pool play will be completed on Friday for the women, when the quarterfinals will also be played. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday and the gold medal match will take place on Sunday.

A rising force on the continent, Ukraine had a perfect day in Espinho as their teams won all four Pool B matches without even dropping sets. The Ukrainians had a difficult first duel in the event, facing Spain, but navigated it well, with Valentyna Davidova/Anhelina Khmil beating Sofía González/Ana Vergara 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) and the country’s top team of Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko defeating Paris Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno also in straight sets (23-21, 21-19).

A few hours later, the Ukrainians returned to the sand and kept the strong rhythm, getting two more sweeps against Estonia – Davidova and Khmil defeated Heleene Hollas/Keira Lukas 2-0 (21-8, 21-14) and Hladun and Lazarenko prevailed over Eva Kuivonen/Liisa-Lotta Jürgenson also in two sets (21-9, 21-17).

CEV Beach Nations Cup Finals – Women

After going down to Ukraine, Spain recovered and dominated hosts Portugal, with González and Vergara topping Gabriela Coelho/Mariana Maia 2-0 (25-23, 21-14) and Álvarez and Moreno downing Vanessa Paquete/Raquel Lacerda also in two sets (21-8, 21-12).

González and Vergara helped Spain triumph against hosts Portugal

The other duel of the pool had Portuguese and Estonians splitting victories, with Maia and Coelho defeating Hollas and Lukas 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) and Kuivonen and Jürgenson leveling things with a two-set (21-16, 21-16) victory over Paquete and Lacerda.

Germans dominate Pool A

Led by reigning European champions Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann, Germany emerged as the top team in Pool A on the first day of matches. The country started the day against Lithuania and walked away with a pair of victories after Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne prevailed over Ariana Rudkovskaja/Skalve Krizanauskaite in the tie-breaker (21-12, 19-21, 15-13) and Müller and Tillmann swept (21-9, 29-17) fellow Paris Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte.

The second match of the day for the Germans was against defending champions the Netherlands and also resulted in two positive results for them – Ittlinger and Grüne topped Mila Konink/Raïsa Schoon in straight sets (22-20, 21-18) while Müller and Tillmann got the better of Emi van Driel/Wies Bekhuis, also winning in two sets (21-13, 21-13).

Müller sets during one of the matches of the day in Espinho

The other two duels in the pool had countries splitting victories. In the first of them, the Netherlands and France ended even after Konink and Schoon took down Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard in two sets (26-24, 21-15) and Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau handled van Driel and Bekhuis also in straight sets (21-18, 21-15).

The French also had a win and a loss against Lithuania, as while Vieira and Chamereau upset Paulikiene and Raupelyte in straight sets (24-22, 21-14), Rudkovskaja and Krizanauskaite took Placette and Richard down in the tie-breaker (21-18, 17-21, 15-12).

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