Before it lands in Austria from August 11-15, the A1 CEV European Championships Vienna 2021 has already crowned 39 different volleyball teams from 11 countries as continental champions over 28 years of history.
On most of these occasions, the teams that ended up at the top of the podium were the favorites to do so or at least were among the contenders. However, just like with any sport in the world, dark horses appear, catching fans and their opponents by surprise on their way to secure an unexpected victory.
EuroBeachVolley has its own stories of underdogs who ended who surprisingly had the entire continent on their feet and here five of those:
1995 – Michiel van der Kuip/Marko Klok
The first major surprising winners happened in the tournament’s third edition, when Dutchmen Michiel van der Kuip and Marko Klok took gold in Saint-Quay-Portrieux, France, after defeating Czechs Milan Dzavoronok and Vlacav Fikar. The Dutch were indoor players and played only a few tournaments in the sand, reaching a high level of success with their victory at the EuroBeachVolley. Klok, who’s currently an assistant coach with the Dutch women’s indoor national team, had a solid playing career, winning silver medals at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics and the 1994 World Championships. Van der Kuip is married to 2018 European champion Sanne Keizer and currently coaches the Belgian team of Tom van Walle and Dries Koekelkoren, who will enter this summer’s tournament in Vienna in the same position their coach once had.