Young Swedes continue dream debut with pool victory

Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson’s first-ever appearance in the CEV EuroBeachVolley continues to unfold perfectly for the young Swedish, who ended Thursday as one of the eight teams guaranteed in the Round of 16 of the men's tournament held in Düsseldorf.

The reigning U22 European champions, Hölting Nilsson and Andersson completed their pool play campaign at the Rochus Club undefeated and advanced directly to the event’s Round of 16 alongside the seven other pool winners.

Friday’s match schedule in Germany will feature the Round of 16 matches, with the quarterfinals following on Saturday and the semifinals and medal matches taking place on Sunday.

2025 CEV EuroBeachVolley – Men

Hölting Nilsson, 20, and Andersson, 19, had to fight hard for their spot in the Round of 16 as the two had to triumph in three-setters in the first two EuroBeachVolley matches of their careers. The Swedish, who had prevailed over Germans Sven Winter and Lukas Pfretzschner on Wednesday, got the better of Israelis Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov on Thursday, winning 2-1 (23-21, 22-24, 15-12) to end up in first place in Pool G.

Already guaranteed a top-20 finish in the tournament, the Swedish will now try to overcome their first elimination match and enter the top-10 in their Round of 16 encounter with Paris Olympic silver medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler – the Germans defeated Austrians Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller in straight sets (21-17, 21-17) in the Round of 24.

Olympic champions win Pool B

Their compatriots, reigning Olympic champions and two-time EuroBeachVolley champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig, are also among the pool winners after they swept (21-14, 21-14) Dutch Olympians Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde to rank first in Pool B. The Swedish stars will now face another Dutch team, the one of Matthew Immers and Ruben Penninga, who defeated Czechs Jiri Sedlak and Jakub Sepka in straight sets (21-19, 21-18) in the Round of 24.

World champions Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner of Czechia also went undefeated in pool play and were the top duo in Pool E after they swept (21-13, 21-16) Dressler and Waller. The Czechs will now face Elazar and Cuzmiciov, who continued alive in the tournament after they swept (21-19, 21-17) Italians Gianluca Dal Corso and Marco Viscovich in the Round of 24.

Four-time EuroBeachVolley champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway also had a smooth ride so far and claimed their spot in the Round of 16 with a two-set (21-17, 21-10) victory over the German Sagstetter brothers Jonas and Benedikt that placed them at the top of the Pool A standings. The Beach Volley Vikings are set to face defending champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia, who defeated their compatriots Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen in the tie-breaker (20-22, 21-19, 15-9) in the Round of 24.

French Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat upset Plavins and Fokerots and emerged as the Pool C winners after they took the Latvians down in three sets (21-19, 20-22, 15-10). In the Round of 16, they will be faced with the Sagstetter brothers, who eliminated another French duo, Rémi Bassereau/Calvin Aye, in a two-set (21-14, 26-24) Round of 24 encounter.

Dutch Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot also booked their tickets to the Round of 16 – they swept (21-15, 21-14) the English Bello twins Javier and Joaquin and won Pool F. The Paris Olympians will continue their journey in Düsseldorf against the home team of Paul Henning and Lui Wüst, who upset Polish Olympians Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak in the Round of 24 in the tie-breaker (21-17, 15-21, 15-9).

Pool D winners were Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan, who continue undefeated in the event after they downed Immers and Penninga in straight sets (21-16, 21-16). In the Round of 16, the Swiss will meet Brouwer and van de Velde, who overcame Portuguese João Pedrosa and Hugo Campos in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-15, 19-17) in the Round of 24.

Completing the list of pool winners in Düsseldorf are young Austrians Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg, who triumphed in Pool H after securing a two-set (28-26, 21-19) victory over Henning and Wüst. In the next round, they will play against the Bello twins, who prevailed over Swiss Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier in a three-set battle (21-17, 18-21, 15-12).