Beach Pro Tour Finals
Though many prominent beach stars returned to Doha from last year’s World Finals, the winners of the men’s tournament, Åhman/Hellvig, competed in the event for the first time. In an all-Scandinavian final match, the reigning European champions faced off against former world champions Mol/Sørum, who took the gold medal last year. Though the Norwegians had defeated the Swedish youngsters in the pool play, Åhman/Hellvig turned the tides with a fantastic 2:0 win (21-16, 21-17) in the final match. Resting on the spot of the world’s number two men’s beach duo, just behind the Norwegians, Åhman/Hellvig finished their most successful season yet, winning not only their second European title in a row, but also claiming gold in three separate Elite16 events and silver at the World Championships.
The bronze medal went to Brazilian beach stars George Wanderley and Andre Loyola Stein, who finished fifth in the World Finals in 2022, beating Olympic medallists Cherif/Ahmed, the only home players in the tournament. The Brazilians other successes in 2023 include gold in Itapema, silver in Jurmala and a bronze medal in Gstaad.
In the women’s competition, Nuss/Kloth became the second American team to win the event after the inaugural tournament last year, which was won by current world champions Hughes/Cheng. Nuss/Kloth had also participated, but significantly stepped up from their fifth place last year and beat Germans Müller/Tilmann in straight sets (21-17, 21-14). In 2023, it was the third gold on this level for the duo, which is also currently the number two women’s team in the world ranking, after topping the podium in La Paz and Uberlandia.
The world’s number one duo, Ana Patrícia/Duda, had to settle for the bronze medal this time after they had won silver in 2022. In a tight tie-breaker (21-13, 18-21, 15-12) they beat Olympic medallists Mariafe/Clancy, who found themselves on the same fourth place spot as last year.
