Host nation Switzerland participated with its best duos in the Spiez Futures on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour and the home crowd was delighted to cheer on all-Swiss finals in both the women’s and the men’s competitions. Tanja Huberli & Leona Kernen outplayed Anouk Verge-Depre & Zoe Verge-Depre in the ladies’ final, while Germany’s Hanna-Marie Schieder & Karla Borger took bronze. Adrian Heidrich & Jonathan Jordan defeated Marco Krattiger & Leo Dillier in the men’s gold medal showdown, while the bronze went to Czechia’s Tadeas Trousil & Matyas Dzavoronok.

Two-time Olympian and Paris 2024 bronze medalist Tanja Huberli and her 19-year-old partner Leona Kernen celebrated their first Beach Pro Tour gold as a team and second medal, after finishing runners-up at the Yucatan Challenge earlier this year. Seeded second in Spiez, they cruised through the entire tournament undefeated on an impeccable record of five straight-set victories. In the semifinals, Huberli & Kernen produced a 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) shutout of eighth-seeded Valerie Dvornikova & Karin Zolnercikova of Czechia, before mastering a solid 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) sweep of the final against top-seeded compatriots Anouk Verge-Depre & Zoe Verge-Depre.

Two-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Anouk and her younger sister, Paris 2024 Olympian Zoe, settled for silver, their first Beach Pro Tour medal together. After losing their first set in Spiez to Dutch qualifiers Leanne van Vegten & Jill de Groot, the Verge-Depres made a perfect march to the final, crowned with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) semifinal victory over third-seeded Hanna-Marie Schieder & Karla Borger.

Two-time Olympian Borger and her partner claimed a 2-0 (21-19, 21-12) win over Dvornikova & Zolnercikova to snatch the bronze, the new pair’s second medal in a row, after the Cervia Futures gold from two weeks earlier. Their semifinal loss to Verge-Depre & Verge-Depre was the only one they suffered throughout the tournament.

Tokyo Olympian Adrian Heidrich and his current partner Jonathan Jordan, seeded third in the Spiez men’s main draw bracket, also topped the podium after winning five in five. In the semifinals, they lost their only set of the tournament, but celebrated a 2-1 (19-21, 21-14, 15-7) victory over fourth-seeded Jedrzej Brozyniak & Piotr Janiak of Poland. In an all-Swiss final against second-seeded Marco Krattiger & Leo Dillier, Heidrich & Jordan took a 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) win to pick up their first Beach Pro Tour medal together.

Until the gold medal match, Krattiger & Dillier had not dropped any sets. Their quest to their third Tour podium in a row was decorated with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) sweep of their semifinal encounter with fifth-seeded Tadeas Trousil & Matyas Dzavoronok. The Swiss duo took a Xiamen Challenge silver the week before and a Valencia Futures bronze in early May.

After conceding their first loss of the tournament in the semis, Trousil & Dzavoronok beat Brozyniak & Piotr Janiak by 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) for the bronze, their second podium in two Beach Pro Tour appearances as a pair, after the Madrid Futures gold.

28 women’s teams and 28 men’s teams representing 18 different countries took part in the Spiez Futures. The next Futures stop will take place in Battipaglia, Italy this week, from May 29 to June 1.

Spiez Futures: women’s results and standings
Spiez Futures: men’s results and standings

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