Challenge - Shangluo, CHN - 2026

Czechia’s Svozilova & Stochlova triumph in Shangluo with team’s first Beach Pro Tour gold

Ukraine’s Davidova & Khmil and USA’s Shaw & Phillips complete the podium in China

Published 11:37, 26 Jul 2026

Czech Olympian Marie-Sara Stochlova and her current partner Marketa Svozilova celebrated their team’s first-ever gold on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. They marched through the Shangluo Challenge in China undefeated to top the women’s podium and pick up their only second medal on the Tour, after the silver they earned at home at the Prague Futures last year.

Watch the Shangluo Challenge on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil claimed silver, their second medal at the Challenge level, after the Baden bronze last year. They also have two Futures silvers together.

Upon their Beach Pro Tour debut as a duo, Molly Shaw & Molly Phillips of the United States brought home bronze.

The 2026 Shangluo Challenge medalists

Seeded 10^th in the women’s main draw in Shangluo, Marketa Svozilova & Marie-Sara Stochlova won all six of their matches in the tournament. In four of them, however, they were pushed to tie-breaker resolutions. That included Sunday’s final, in which they outlasted eighth-seeded Ukrainians Davidova & Khmil for a hard-fought 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-13) victory. Stochlova contributed four kill blocks and two aces towards a match-high 23 points. Svozilova added another 20. Davidova matched Stochlova with 23 points for the Ukrainian team, while Khmil impressed with five kill blocks towards a 15-point total.

In the semifinals earlier on Sunday, both teams overcame the resistance of American opponents in straight-set sweeps. The Czechs mastered a 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) shutout of second-seeded Shaw & Phillips, while the Ukrainians hammered out a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) victory over 22^nd-seeded Madison Shields & Kylie Kuyava-De Berg, also shaping up a five-match winning streak on the way to the gold medal showdown.

The all-American third-place game offered a three-set duel, from which Shaw & Phillips emerged with a 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 15-11) win to snatch the bronze.