Beach Pro Tour - News

Marco Krattiger & Florian Breer in action (source: cev.eu)

Marco Krattiger & Florian Breer in action (source: cev.eu)

Marco Krattiger & Florian Breer defeated Quentin Metral & Yves Haussener in the all-Swiss men’s final at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Spiez on Sunday, while Poland’s Piotr Janiak & Jedrzej Brozyniak took the bronze. Ukraine’s Diana Lunina & Tetiana Lazarenko triumphed in the women’s competition, while Czechia’s Michaela Brinkova & Karin Zolnercikova and Australia’s Georgia Johnson & Jasmine Fleming completed the podium.

Second-seeded Krattiger & Breer won all five of their main draw matches in front of the home crowd in Spiez. The number 26 team in the FIVB World Ranking, consisting of 28-year-old Krattiger and 24-year-old Breer, a 2014 U17 world champion, claimed their first gold and, overall, their second medal on the Beach Pro Tour, after the Agadir Challenge bronze they earned last year. In Sunday’s semifinals, the Swiss pair mastered a convincing 2-0 (21-10, 21-14) shutout of eighth-seeded Janiak & Brozyniak to take on top-seeded compatriots Metral & Haussener for the gold. Krattiger & Breer hammered out a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) victory to top the podium.

Krattiger & Breer celebrate (source: cev.eu)

Krattiger & Breer celebrate (source: cev.eu)

Haussener, who was Breer’s partner when they claimed the U17 world title in 2014, and his current partner Metral reached the Spiez semis without dropping a set along the way. In the battle for a spot in the final, however, they had to fight back from a set down to take a 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-12) victory over 13th-seeded Santeri Siren & Jyrki Nurminen of Finland and secure at least the silver. It was their third Beach Pro Tour medal, after claiming gold at the Madrid and Rhodes Futures last year.

For the 34-year-old Poles, who took the bronze after beating the Finns by 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) for the third place, it was also the third Beach Pro Tour podium. Last year, Janiak & Brozyniak picked up Futures silver in Warsaw and bronze in Budapest.

Ukraine against Germany in one of the women’s semifinals (source: cev.eu)

Ukraine against Germany in one of the women’s semifinals (source: cev.eu)

2021 U21 world champion Tetiana Lazarenko, now 19 years old, and her 30-year-old current partner Diana Lunina took their second consecutive medal together, after the silver at the Madrid Futures last month. The fourth-seeded Ukrainians lost only two sets in their five games in Spiez, one in their opening main draw match and one in the final, in which they came back from a set down to master a 2-1 (16-21, 21-9, 15-10) victory over 14th-seeded Czechs Brinkova & Zolnercikova. Earlier on Sunday, in the semifinals, Lunina & Lazarenko delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) shutout of ninth-seeded Germans Nele Schmitt and Paula Schurholz.

Lunina & Lazarenko celebrate (source: cev.eu)

Lunina & Lazarenko celebrate (source: cev.eu)

Playing together internationally for the first time, 20-year-old Brinkova and 21-year-old Zolnercikova made it all the way from Thursday’s qualifiers to Sunday’s final to celebrate the first Beach Pro Tour podium for either of them. The Czechs crowned a series of six consecutive wins in Spiez with a 2-0 (23-21, 21-15) victory over second-seeded Johnson & Fleming in the semifinals.

After taking their first Beach Pro Tour medal with the second place at home in Coolangatta in April, the Australians added a Spiez bronze to their collection upon a forfeit win over Schmitt and Schurholz in the third-place fixture.

Spiez Futures: all results