Elite16 - Cape Town, RSA - 2025

Holting Nilsson & Andersson snatch first Elite gold

Hammarberg & Berger and Berntsen & Mol complete all-European men’s podium in Cape Town

Published 04:41, 26 Oct 2025

Hölting Nilsson/Andersson, E (SWE) vs. Mol, H./Berntsen (NOR) - Semifinals #69359322

Sweden’s Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson celebrated their first ever Elite-level gold at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event in Cape Town. They cruised through the competition undefeated in six matches played, losing only two sets along the way. It was their sixth gold and ninth medal overall on the Tour.

· Watch the Cape Town Elite on VBTV

Another pair of young athletes, Austria’s Timo Hammarberg & Tim Berger, took the men’s silver in South Africa, the pair’s fourth Beach Pro Tour medal. All three of their previous podiums were achieved at Futures tournaments.

Eighth-seeded Mathias Berntsen & Hendrik Mol of Norway claimed the bronze, also their first ever medal at the Elite level. Previously, they had three Challenge-category podiums back in 2022 and 2023.

The 2025 Cape Town Elite men's podium

20-year-old Holting Nilsson and 19-year-old Andersson, the top seeds of the men’s tournament in Cape Town, won Sunday’s gold medal match in straight sets. They beat the sixth-seeded Austrians, 21-year-old Hammarberg and 20-year-old Berger, by 2-0 (21-15, 21-18). The Swedes stayed in control throughout the first set of the game and took it by a wide margin. Hammarberg & Berger fought back and maintained a lead for most of the first half of the second set, but after 12-12, Holting Nilsson & Andersson managed to turn the course of the set around and cruised on to the final victory. Andersson and Hammarberg shared the top scorer honors of the match with 16 points each and, while the Swedish teenager had all his points in attack, the Austrian player’s tally featured three kill blocks. Holting Nilsson contributed another 13 points, including two blocks and an ace, while Berger finished with seven points, also delivering one ace during the game.

The bronze medal match before that was resolved after three sets. Berntsen & Mol were well in control of the tie-breaker against fifth-seeded Frenchmen Remi Bassereau & Calvin Aye to take a 2-1 (21-18, 14-21, 15-8) victory. Mol led the way with 25 points. His match-high tally featured four kill blocks and two aces. Berntsen also delivered two aces, to which he added one blocking and 12 attacking points to finish with a total of 15. Bassereau put up a solid six kill blocks towards a 14-point tally, while Aye emerged as the team’s best scorer with 19 points to his name.

The first semifinal on Sunday morning offered a three-set duel between Holting Nilsson & Andersson and Berntsen & Mol. The Norwegians managed to come back from a set down, but the Swedes dominated the tie-breaker to win this all-Scandinavian clash by 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-5). Holting Nilsson owned the net with eight kill blocks and 17 spike kills towards a match-high 25 points. Andersson added another 19 points. Mol led the Norwegian team with 22 points.

Then, Hammarberg & Berger hammered out an emphatic 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) shutout of Bassereau & Aye in the second semifinal. Three players – Hammarberg (three kill blocks, one ace), Berger and Aye – shared the top scorer honors with 14 points each, while Bassereau put away 13.