Five of the six medals at last week’s CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championships in Battipaglia, Italy went to teams representing FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported federations. Sebastian Kjemperud & Johannes Ringoen of Norway, Livio Friedli & Daniel Allemann of Switzerland and Alexander Sponer & Paul Hohenauer of Austria brought home the men’s gold, silver and bronze. Another Austrian pair, Lia Berger & Lilli Hohenauer, won the women’s competition, with Czechia’s Lucie Knoblochova & Adela Petrikova finishing runners-up. The last medal, the women’s bronze, went to Zuzanna Kudlik & Hanna Lesniewicz of Poland.
Austria’s beach volleyball has so far been allocated USD 168,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, in addition to USD 6,000 for a national beach volleyball team coach development knowledge transfer program. Greek coach Georgios Kotsilianos has been in charge of their men’s national duos, while Brazilian coach Tie Santana has been training the women’s national teams. Norges Volleyballforbund, the Norwegian national federation, has been allocated a total of USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams, with Jetmund Bernsten in charge of the men’s duos. In addition, a USD 6,000 for a national team coaches development knowledge transfer program was granted. Swiss Volley’s beach volleyball department has so far been granted USD 336,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Thanks to that funding, their men’s duos are benefitting from the expertise of coach Philip Gabathuler. The Czech Volleyball Federation has been funded with USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams and another USD 18,000 in national beach volleyball team coach development knowledge transfer programs. Their women’s pairs take advantage of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo’s expertise.
Sebastian Kjemperud & Johannes Ringoen won all seven of their matches in Battipaglia. The Norwegians crowned their run with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-18) shutout of Austria’s Alexander Sponer & Paul Hohenauer in the semifinals and a 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 15-7) victory over Switzerland’s Livio Friedli & Daniel Allemann in the gold medal showdown.
In their semifinal, Friedli & Allemann came back from a set down to overcome Bulgaria’s Georgi Antov & Zahari Zgurov, celebrated a 2-1 (17-21, 25-23, 15-9) victory and secured a spot on the podium.
Sponer & Hohenauer reached the semis on a five-game winning streak and, in the third-place playoff, they bounced back from their semifinal loss with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Antov & Zgurov to claim the bronze.
In the women’s championship, Austria’s Lia Berger & Lilli Hohenauer also cruised undefeated through their seven matches and claimed their second continental crown, after the 2024 U18 European title. In the semis, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) shutout of Poland’s Zuzanna Kudlik & Hanna Lesniewicz, and in the final, they mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) victory over Czechia’s Lucie Knoblochova & Adela Petrikova.
The Czech duo also reached the final unbeaten and after a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) sweep of their semifinal against Belarusian qualifiers Nadzeya Tsishkova & Veranika Hrom.
In the bronze medal game, Kudlik & Lesniewicz squeezed out a 2-1 (22-20, 10-21, 15-13) win over Tsishkova & Hrom.
33 men’s and 34 women’s duos representing 34 different federations took part in the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championships.
