EuroBeachVolley Pool Previews: Women (A-D)

The A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley presented by Swatch is closer than ever as the best teams of Europe will make the trip to Vienna to compete in the continent’s top event from August 11-15, shortly after the Tokyo Olympics.

On July 15, preparations for the tournament reached another significant milestone with the drawing of lots held at Vienna’s town hall getting attention of people all over the world, including players, fans and media.

The outcome of the draw was the formation of eight strong pools for both men and women, guaranteeing elite-level matches right from the first day of competition at the Austrian capital at both the downtown Red Bull Beach Arena and A1 5G Side Courts at the Danube Island.

With the pools already set, we’ll now take some time to present them and try to anticipate what could happen in less than a month when the continent’s elite hit the sand in Vienna. Please keep in mind that the opening stage of the event will feature a modified pool play system, so, unlike the Olympics, a team won’t face all three pool opponents.

In the opening day, the highest-seeded team in a pool will play against the lowest-seeded while the second and third-seeded will also meet each other. The winners will later clash, with the pool’s top and a spot in the Round of 16 on the line, as will the losers, in that case with survival depending on a victory.

The withdraw of defending champions Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré and their substitution by Polish Ceynowa and Gruszczynska has completely altered the scenario for this group, making of it arguably the most unpredictable in the entire tournament.

The Dutch team brings a very interesting mix with a savvy veteran in the 33-year-old Van Iersel, a two-time European champion who’s approaching the end of her playing career, and a physical, young talent in the 23-year-old Ypma, who’s set to play in the event for just the second time.

The two Finnish teams are very similar when it comes to their playing level. Lathi-Liukkonen and Parkkinen have been more successful as of late when it comes to results, but they’ve just gotten back together after the blocker became a mother and that could give Lehtonen and Athiainen the edge here.

Did You Know? At 42, Lehtonen is the oldest player to compete in the 2021 EuroBeachVolley. The experienced Finnish blocker was an extremely successful indoor player between 1995 and 2013 and has been playing at the beach ever since.

Expect the top spot in this pool to go to either the Russians or the Dutch, two teams that are currently competing at the Tokyo Olympics. Makroguzova and Kholomina are the most established team in the pool and have had by far the most international success between the two.

Stam and Schoon are on fire, however, after turning a series of solid World Tour results and a spectacular performance at the European Continental Cup Final into an opportunity to compete in Tokyo at the ages of 22 and 19, respectively. Regardless of what happens in Japan, they’ll get to Vienna excited and confident after what they’ve accomplished so early in their careers.

It’s hard to predict who would theoretically claim the third spot here between the Strauss twins and the Swiss. The Austrians have been competing among the elite of the sport for longer and are an extremely technical and intelligent duo, but Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré are more physical and athletic.

Did You Know? This is easily the youngest pool in the entire event and has one of three 19-year-olds set to compete in Vienna in Schoon. The ‘oldest’ players in the pool are Nadine and Teresa, who are both 25.

Two of the favorites to win medals at the EuroBeachVolley are in this pool in nine-time medalist Ludwig and her partner Kozuch and Swiss Betschart and Hüberli, who took silver in 2018. These are some of the best teams in the world and should dominate the pool.

Russians Bocharova and Voronina are among the rising stars of European and international beach volleyball. At 19 and 21 respectively, they’ve won as many as eight continental and world-level age group events together and just it’s a matter of when, not if, they will translate all that potential to the senior level.

Helland-Hansen and Hjortland are late entrants in the tournament, having replaced French Alexandra Jupiter and Aline Chamereau. The Norwegians are World Tour regulars but are yet to show they can compete with the best teams in the world and this pool will provide them an opportunity to do jus that.

Did You Know? The top two teams of the pool, Ludwig/Kozuch and Betschart/Hüberli met this past weekend in their opening match at the Tokyo Olympics and the Swiss won a very close one. Can't wait for a potential revenge in Vienna!

Graudina and Kravcenoka are the only in the pool to have won the EuroBeachVolley before and also the only to be competing at the Tokyo Olympics. The Latvians are among the best in the world now and are the strongest candidates to remain undefeated at the end of pool play.

The Polish are, in theory, the team better equipped to give the Latvians a run for their money. They’re EuroBeachVolley medalists and the left-handed Wojtasik is an Olympian, bringing an important level of experience to a young pool.

Spanish and French have different playing styles both are similarly efficient. While the team from Spain relies on the big block of the 1.90m-tall Carro and on Soria’s speed in the backcourt, the side from France builds their game upon Placete and Richard’s outstanding ball control.

Did You Know? Latvians and Polish were also both part of pool D in the 2019 EuroBeachVolley. In that occasion, it worked well for both teams as they met in the gold medal match of the event, which was won by Graudina and Kravcenoka.

If you missed our men’s pool previews, we got you! You can find pool A-D here and pools E-H here.

The second part of the women’s previews will drop on Friday, so stay tuned!