Espinho
The beach highlight of the week brought some international beach stars to Espinho, Portugal, for the World Beach Pro Tour's Challenger event.
The World Tour next travels to Canada for an Elite16 and Challenger tournament before the top European teams meet at the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2023 from Aug. 2-6 to find out who are Europe's best beach volleyball duos.
In the women's competition, the Brazilians came out on top, securing an all-Brazilian podium with strong performances. At the top were Barbara/Carol, who secured victory in the final against Ágatha/Rebecca 2-0 (21-17, 21-14). Barbara/Carol remained undefeated with six wins in three days! The bronze medal was won by Ágatha/Rebecca in the small final against China's Xue/X.Y.. Xia with a 2-1 (21-17, 10-21, 17-15).
The European women were also strong on the court. For example, Alvarez/Moreno, Gruszczynska/Wachowicz and Placette/Richard were able to secure a spot in the top 5. We are already eagerly awaiting them at the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2023.
In the men's competition, the USA took the gold medal with Brunner/Crabb. Second place went to the Austrians Hörl/Horst, who lost the match 0-2 (16-21, 17-21).Second place went to the Austrians Hörl/Horst, who lost 0-2 (16-21, 17-21) to the Americans in the final match. The Austrians remained the only European representatives on the podium and show their top form shortly before the European Championships at home. The additional points also mean that participation in the World Championships in October is as good as certain for Austria's No. 1. Brazilians Goncalves/Lanci claimed bronze in a tight three-set match (2-1; 18-21, 21-18, 15-13) against Kantor/Zdybek in the third-place match.
