In the women’s tournament final, K. Stam and R. Schoon left no hope for the biggest surprise of this tournament, the Spaniards Sofia Izuzquiza and Tania Moreno, winning 2:0 (21:13, 21:11).
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This is already the third European Championship medal won by these Dutch athletes, but the first gold. This triumph is exceptional because last year K. Stam had to miss almost the entire season due to a severe back injury.
“When I think about where I was a year ago – I felt immense pain and could barely straighten up, so this success seems simply incredible. The most important thing is that we stayed together – not just the two of us, but the whole team that helped overcome all challenges. Now we are here and can celebrate,” said K. Stam.
If the Dutch secure a place in the national team, the Los Angeles Olympic Games will be their third. K. Stam and R. Schoon have already played in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Games.
World champions from Latvia, Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, adorned themselves with bronze medals. In the semifinals, after a three-set battle, they lost to S. Izuzquiza and T. Moreno, but in the match for 3rd place, they defeated the French Clemence Vieira and Aline Chamereau 2:1 (20:22, 21:16, 15:12).
For the Latvians, this is already their third European Championship medal. In 2019 and 2022, the Latvian duo became European champions.
“Although we were disappointed after the semifinal loss, it was very important for us to focus and win the bronze. We don’t have many medals in the European Championship. It is special to win a medal here in Poland, with so many fans from Latvia,” said T. Graudina.
Three Lithuanian women’s pairs competed in this European beach volleyball championship. Monika Paulikienė and Ainė Raupelytė took a high fifth place. Ieva Dumbauskaitė and Gerda Grudzinskaitė finished in 17th position, and Ieva Vasiliauskaitė and Erika Kliokmanaitė in 25th.
Both M. Paulikienė and A. Raupelytė, as well as I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė, were stopped in this tournament by the Spaniards S. Izuzquiza and T. Moreno.
It is also interesting that I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė met the future European champions R. Schoon and K. Stam in the group, as well as the French C. Vieira and A. Chamereau, who made it to the top four. The Lithuanians defeated the latter at the start of the tournament.
In the men’s tournament, the world ranking leaders, Swedes J. Nilsson and E. Andersson, triumphed. In the semifinals, they defeated their compatriots David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig 2:0 (21:21, 28:26), and in the final, they proved superiority over the five-time European champions, Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, 2:1 (21:18, 18:21, 15:10).
This is the first European Championship medal won by J. Nilsson and E. Andersson.
In the bronze medal match, the French Teo Rotaras and Arnaud Gauthier-Ratas defeated D. Ahman and J. Hellvig 2:1 (21:18, 19:21, 15:12).
The total prize fund of the European beach volleyball championship was 200 thousand euros.
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