Teams from the Netherlands, Ukraine, France and two from Germany made their way to the podiums at last week’s Baden Challenge on the Beach Pro Tour with support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. The women’s podium was fully occupied by program beneficiaries – Germany’s Linda Bock & Louisa Lippmann (pictured in the main photo), Netherlands’ Mila Konink & Raisa Schoon and Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil, in that order. Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler of Germany claimed the men’s silver and Remi Bassereau & Calvin Aye of France took bronze. The men’s trophy went to Sweden’s Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson.
The German Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has been allocated a total of USD 168,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their national pairs are training under the supervision of former European champion and two-time Olympian Christoph Dieckmann. The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has so far been granted a total of USD 217,600 in national beach volleyball teams coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their women’s pairs work under the guidance of Cypriot coach Antreas Savvidis and his staff. France’s beach volleyball department has been allocated coach support funding from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment totaling USD 1,077,000 so far. Their men’s national duos are working under the guidance of Brazilian coach Calvis Lopes. The Federation Francaise de Volleyball has also received USD 5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. The FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has been supporting the Ukraine Volleyball Federation in continuing its volleyball and beach volleyball activities since 2022 as part of an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding, which has so far provided total funding of USD 670,000.
Germany’s Linda Bock & Louisa Lippmann, seeded seventh in the women’s main draw, made a perfect run to their first-ever Beach Pro Tour gold. They did not drop a single set in six matches played in Baden and collected the team’s second Beach Pro Tour medal, after their Warmia Mazury Challenge silver in June. In the semifinals’ Bock & Lippmann produced a 2-0 (21-14, 21-12) victory over 12th-seeded Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil of Ukraine, and in the final, they celebrated a 2-0 (22-20, 21-9) win over 11th-seeded Mila Konink & Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands.
In their semifinal, Konnik & Schoon managed a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) shutout of sixth-seeded Taru Lahti-Liukkonen & Niina Ahtiainen of Finland to secure a spot on the podium, 20-year-old Konink’s first ever on the Beach Pro Tour.
Davidova & Khmil earned the bronze with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) sweep of the third-place match against Lahti & Ahtiainen. For the Ukrainian pair, it was the third Beach Pro Tour medal, but the first at the Challenge level, after two Futures silvers.
Seeded third in the men’s bracket, 20-year-old Jacob Holting Nilsson and 19-year-old Elmer Andersson of Sweden went through the Baden tournament undefeated and picked up their fifth gold and seventh overall medal on the Beach Pro Tour. In the semifinals, the rising Swedish stars claimed a 2-0 (23-21, 21-13) win over Remi Bassereau & Calvin Aye of France, and in the gold medal showdown, they produced an impressive 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) upset of Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler of Germany, handing each of these opponents their first loss of the tournament.
Fourth-seeded Ehlers & Wickler settled for silver. They have now collected six medals on the Beach Pro Tour, but are yet to celebrate their first gold. In their semifinal, the Germans achieved a 2-1 (21-15, 18-21, 15-13) victory over 11th-seeded American Olympians Miles Evans & Chase Budinger.
French Olympian Remi Bassereau and his partner Calvin Aye, seeded 22nd in the Baden main draw, also beat the Americans after a three-set battle, 2-1 (16-21, 21-17, 15-10) in the third-place match, to claim the bronze, their first Tour medal together.
56 women’s teams and 56 men’s teams representing 32 different federations took part in the Baden Challenge.
The next Challenge event on the Beach Pro Tour will take place in Mexico from October 1 to 5. This week’s Tour program offers the Montreal Elite in Canada from August 13 to 17 and the Busan Gwangalli Futures in Korea from August 14 to 17.
Baden Challenge: all results and standings