Women get on the sand in Lille as the season nears its end
Futures in Europe
The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour is set to return to France this week, as, two months after hosting a double-gender Futures event in Montpellier, the host country of the last Olympics will now stage a women-only tournament in the region of Lille from Thursday to Sunday.
Having the airfield of neighboring city Bondues as the venue, this week’s tournament will be the second-to-last held Futures event held in Europe in the 2025 season.
The tournament will count on the participation of 28 teams, which will represent 18 different countries. Hosts France will have the most representatives, having entered five duos, followed by the Netherlands (3), Chile (2), Finland (2), Lithuania (2), the United States (2), Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Scotland and Switzerland.
Dutch Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz, who took bronze in Leuven back in July, are the top-seeded duo entering this week’s event in France. Last year’s U18 European champions Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer of Austria, who won gold in the same Belgian tournament, rank second.
Hosts France have the third-seeded team in the event, formed by Romane Sobezalz and Saofé Duval, and another three duos guaranteed to start in the main draw - Ophélie Lusson/Alex Merle, Marion Bernard/Pia Szewczyk and Joséphine Candela/Kyara Rouer.
Qualification matches will take place on Thursday, with four of the 16 teams entered advancing to the main draw. The main phase of the tournament begins on Friday with pool play, continues on Saturday with the elimination rounds and ends on Sunday, with the semifinals and medal matches.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable international ranking points.