Futures - Tahiti, PYF - 2023

Italian triumph in Tahiti

Andreatta & Abbiati, Shoji & Ikeda and Kulzer & Poniewaz line up on the Futures podium in French Polynesia

Published 12:47, 09 Apr 2023

Tiziano Andreatta & Andrea Abbiati celebrate in Tahiti (source: Abbiati-Andreatta Beach Volleyball Team Facebook page)

Tiziano Andreatta & Andrea Abbiati topped their first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour podium by emphatically winning this week’s Futures tournament in Tahiti without dropping a single set along the way. For the experienced Italian pairing of 37-year-old Abbiati and 31-year-old Andreatta, it was the fourth overall world-level medal. They also had one gold and two bronzes on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Main draw playoff action on Tahitian sand was streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

The silver medals in French Polynesia went to third-seeded Kensuke Shoji & Jumpei Ikeda of Japan. It was 33-year-old Shoji and 30-year-old Ikeda’s first Beach Pro Tour hardware as a team.

After finishing fourth at the Coolangatta Futures last weekend, second-seeded Germans Simon Kulzer & Bennet Poniewaz now made a step up to third place and their inaugural Beach Pro Tour podium.

After emerging victorious in Pool D, fifth-seeded Abbiati & Andreatta knocked out Hungary’s Csanad Petik & Domonkos Doczi with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) quarterfinal win. Then, they squeezed out a hard-fought 2-0 (21-19, 25-23) semifinal victory over seventh-seeded Jake Urrutia & Ian Satterfield of the United States and a much less problematic 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) shutout of Shoji & Ikeda in Saturday’s gold medal match.

The Japanese duo, on the other hand, had topped the final standings in Pool C. Then, they claimed two victories over German teams, 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) against qualifiers Malte Hoppner & Tilo Rietschel in the quarterfinals and 2-1 (13-21, 21-18, 15-10) against Kulzer & Poniewaz in the semis.

Kulzer & Poniewaz had also not lost a set until the semifinals. After winning Pool B, the Germans hammered out a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) sweep of Norway’s Solheim & Stian Opsahl in a quarterfinal match. In the bronze medal game, they mastered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) shutout of Urrutia & Satterfield.

**Tahiti Futures: all results**

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour 2023: Tahiti Futures
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