Sweden’s Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson delighted the home crowd in Malmo by earning Futures gold at the first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event ever held in the northern European country. Germany’s Momme Lorenz & Tilo Rietschel claimed silver, while Spain’s Alvaro Viera & Antonio Saucedo settled for bronze.
20-year-old Holting Nilsson and 18-year-old Andersson, reigning U22 European champions, did not lose a single set in the five matches played in Malmo on the way to their first Beach Pro Tour podium in 2025. The home gold was already their fifth medal on the Tour. Last year, the talented Swedes picked up two Challenge-level golds and one Futures trophy, in addition to a Futures bronze. Seeded second in the Malmo main draw bracket, Holting Nilsson & Andersson crowned their victory run with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) sweep of their semifinal against Viera & Saucedo and a 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) victory over Lorenz & Rietschel in the gold medal showdown.
The young Swedes’ triumph in Malmo was in a sense a surprise, since everybody was betting on their top-caliber compatriots, reigning Olympic champions and world’s number three team David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig to conquer the trophy with ease. Indeed, the top-seeded 23-year-old heavyweights also reached the semifinals without dropping a set. However, a Hellvig injury forced them to withdraw from the last two matches, automatically sending their semifinal opponents, third-seeded Germans Lorenz & Rietschel, to the final, and seventh-seeded Spaniards Viera & Saucedo to the podium with bronze.
