Austria’s Laurenc Grossig & Mathias Seiser collected their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold together as they triumphed at the Sveti Vlas Futures on the beautiful Black Sea beach in Bulgaria. Serbia’s Djordje Klasnic & Marko Makaric took silver, while Dimitar Mehandzhiyski & Dimitar Kalchev wrote history by earning Bulgaria’s first ever Beach Pro Tour medal in either gender to complete the men’s podium. In an all-Ukrainian women’s final, Yeva Serdiuk & Daria Romaniuk outplayed Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil. Spanish qualifiers Sofia Izuzquiza & Ana Vergara brought home the women’s bronze.

Third-seeded Grossig & Seiser did not drop a single set in five matches played in Sveti Vlas. They produced a 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) sweep of their semifinal against second-seeded Tiziano Andreatta & Davide Benzi of Italy and mastered a 2-0 (21-14, 21-10) victory over ninth-seeded Klasnic & Makaric in the gold medal showdown.

Klasnic & Makaric secured their first Beach Pro Tour podium as a team with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-13) semifinal victory over home favorites Mehandzhiyski & Kalchev.

Seeded fourth in the main draw bracket, Mehandzhiyski & Kalchev delighted the home crowd on Venid Beach in Sveti Vlas with an achievement they had not even imagined, Bulgaria’s first piece of hardware in the history of the Beach Pro Tour. In a hard-fought third-place battle, the home team delivered a 2-1 (23-21, 17-21, 15-12) upset of Andreatta & Benzi to celebrate the bronze.

Sixth-seeded Serdiuk & Romaniuk also made an impeccable run through the women’s tournament by the Black Sea and did not lose any sets on the way to their third Beach Pro Tour gold and fourth overall medal. The 2022 U19 world champions defeated Spanish qualifiers Izuzquiza & Vergara by 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) in the semifinals, before producing a 2-0 (21-12, 21-19) upset of their top-seeded compatriots Davidova & Khmil in the final showdown.

To secure their second medal since they teamed up for the start of the 2024 season, Davidova & Khmil battled it out for a 2-1 (20-22, 21-13, 15-9) comeback semifinal victory over another team emerging from the qualifications, Germany’s Sarah Schulz & Josefine Schakel.

In a hard-fought bronze medal match, 12^th-seeded Izuzquiza & Vergara put together a 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-10) win over 13^th-seeded Schulz & Schakel and claimed their first Beach Pro Tour medal, both as a team and individually.

26 men’s and 27 women’s teams representing 24 different national federations took part in the Sveti Vlas Futures. As many as four Futures events will run concurrently this week, from June 12 to 15 – in Qingdao, China, in Jurmala, Latvia, a women’s tournament in Krakow, Poland and a men’s tournament in Malmo, Sweden.

Sveti Vlas Futures: results and standings

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