Two of the three women’s teams that stepped on the podium in the last edition of the EuroBeachVolley had a weekend to celebrate as reigning continental champions Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré triumphed in a Swiss Tour event and bronze medalists Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina won a tournament in the Russian Tour.
Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré, who will try to defend their title at the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley presented by Swatch, from August 11-15, in Vienna, appeared in Swiss Tour for the first time in 2021 and got to celebrate a victory in the second event of the season in Locarno.
The Rio 2016 Olympians defeated German wild cards Isabel Schneider and Leonie Körtzinger 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) in the gold medal match. Another German team, the one of Rio 2016 Olympic champion Laura Ludwig and Maggie Kozuch, took bronze after defeating Mara Betschart, the younger sister of EuroBeachVolley medalist Nina, and Annik Stähli 2-0 (21-14, 21-11).
The men’s tournament was won by Jonas Kissling and Michiel Zandbergen, who upset top-seeded Quentil Métral and Yves Haussener in the final with a 2-1 (9-21, 21-18, 16-14) victory. Immanuel Zürcher and Jonathan Jordan were third after a 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-10) bronze medal match win over Leo Dillier and Simon Hagenbuch.
Makroguzova and Kholomina triumph in Moscow
In Moscow, Russian rising stars Makroguzova and Kholomina took advantage of the absence of two of the country’s top teams that were competing in the European Continental Cup Finals to cruise to an easy victory in their national tour.
The two, who will represent their country at the Olympics, completed a weekend of five victories and no sets dropped with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) victory over 2006 EuroBeachVolley champion Alexandra Moiseeva and her partner Ekaterina Syrtseva. Two-time Olympian and 2015 EuroBeachVolley silver medalist Ekaterina Birlova and partner Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya were third after a 2-0 (21-16, 21-9) triumph over Yulia Abalakina and Terentyeva.
