Futures - Busan, KOR - 2026

Estonians celebrate home-sand success at Tallinn Futures

Austrian teams claim both silvers, Latvia also represented on the podiums in Estonia

Published 07:28, 23 Aug 2026

Estonia’s Kuivonen & Jurgenson triumph as Tallinn Futures winners (source: cev.eu)

Estonian teams claimed three medals, including both golds, at the Tallinn Futures on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Mart Tiisaar & Dimitriy Korotkov triumphed in the men’s tournament, while Eva Liisa Kuivonen & Liisa-Lotta Jurgenson and Heleene Hollas & Liisa Remmelg finished first and third on the women’s side. Both silver medals went to Austrian pairs - Oleksandra Shkarupa & Magdalena Rabitsch and qualifiers Laurenz Leitner & Moritz Fabian Kindl – while Latvia’s Olivers Bulgacs & Marcis Berzins picked up the men’s bronze.

The 2026 Tallin Futures podium (source: cev.eu)

23-year-old Eva Liisa Kuivonen & Liisa-Lotta Jurgenson celebrated their first ever Beach Pro Tour gold, which was their fourth medal overall on the Tour. They went through the tournament in Tallinn undefeated, but resorted to tie-breaker resolutions in four of the five wins they achieved. In the semifinals, the sixth-seeded Estonian pair came back from a set down to deliver a 2-1 (15-21, 21-16, 15-12) upset of top-seeded compatriots Heleene Hollas & Liisa Remmelg, and in the gold medal showdown, they delighted the home fans with a nail-biting 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 18-16) victory over Oleksandra Shkarupa & Magdalena Rabitsch.

The fifth-seeded Austrians also reached the final unbeaten, before settling for silver, maintaining the duo’s impressive record of making the podium every time they appear at a Beach Pro Tour event. It was their third medal in a row, after the Spiez Futures bronze in June and the Leuven Futures silver in July. To get to the final, Rabitsch and 18-year-old Shkarupa battled it out for a 2-1 (19-21, 21-14, 15-10) turnaround in the semifinal against Hungary’s Eszter Vasvari & Zsofi Vasvari.

Bracket leaders Hollas & Remmelg bounced back with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-17) sweep of the third-place playoff against ninth-seeded Vasvari & Vasvari to collect the bronze, their ninth Beach Pro Tour medal and first of the season.

Estonia’s Tiisaar & Korotkov celebrate their Tallinn Futures victory in the rain (source: cev.eu)

Top-seeded Estonians Mart Tiisaar & Dimitriy Korotkov lived up to their status in the men’s competition and lifted the trophy, getting on their fourth Beach Pro Tour podium together, but for the first time with the gold medals. They medaled at each of their three most recent Futures, picking up bronze and two silvers. Tiisaar & Korotkov won all five of their games in Tallinn, cruising through their three playoff matches without dropping a set. They mastered a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) semifinal victory over third-seeded Szymon Beta & Artem Besarab of Poland, who came in through the qualifiers, and followed up with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) straight-setter against another team emerging from the qualifications – sixth-seeded Laurenz Leitner & Moritz Fabian Kindl of Austria – in the gold medal showdown.

Leitner & Kindl managed to string up a five-match winning streak in Tallinn on the way to the final and crowned it with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) shutout of Latvia’s Olivers Bulgacs & Marcis Berzins in the semifinals to decorate their Beach Pro Tour debut as a pair with a medal.

Seventh-seeded Bulgacs & Berzins also made the podium after a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) sweep of the bronze medal game against Beta & Besarab, thus celebrating their first Beach Pro Tour medal together. For 20-year-old Berzins, it was a career-first podium on the Tour.