In the women’s competition, after a five-year break, the gold medals were won by Ieva Dumbauskaitė and Gerda Grudzinskaitė.
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In the quarterfinals, I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė defeated Rugilė Grudzinskaitė and Mėja Matiukaitė 2:0 (21:12, 21:16), and in the semifinals, they beat Ariana Rudkovskaja and Skalvė Križanauskaitė 2:0 (21:18, 21:14).
In the final, as last year, they faced the duo that dominated the national championships from 2023 to 2025, Monika Paulikienė and Aine Raupelytė. The intriguing clash of the strongest Lithuanian teams this time ended with the triumph of I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė 2:0 (25:23, 21:16).
In the first set, I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė held the advantage for a long time, but M. Paulikienė and A. Raupelytė equalized several times, so everything was decided in a dramatic end to the set. Luck favored the duo of I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė there.
In the middle of the second set, I. Dumbauskaitė and G. Grudzinskaitė pulled away from their opponents and did not allow them to catch up this time.
“After the last point, I started crying – it felt so good to reclaim the champions’ title. I am very proud of our entire team,” said G. Grudzinskaitė.
“This was a team victory for us. We were together, we really wanted it. We fought, we were brave. Today we managed to achieve our goal,” I. Dumbauskaitė echoed Gerda.
Talking about the final, the athletes emphasized that they did not predict the course of the match but simply tried to fight for every point.
“The first set was very important. I told Ieva that I believe in us and knew that if we completed all the tasks the coach talked about and we discussed together, everything would be fine,” said G. Grudzinskaitė.
I. Dumbauskaitė emphasized that this victory once again showed that her and Gerda’s duo can play at a high level and now they will aim for new achievements on the international stage.
“The season did not go as we wanted, but we aimed to retain at least some of the world ranking points. It may be that at the end of autumn we will still have ‘Beach Pro Tour’ tournaments, so we will focus on them,” said I. Dumbauskaitė.
Bronze medals were won by Jekaterina Saulė and Danielė Kvedaraitė. In the match for third place, they were awarded a victory over Ariana Rudkovskaja and Skalvė Križanauskaitė, who refused to play due to an injury suffered in the semifinals.
In the semifinals, J. Saulė and D. Kvedaraitė lost 0:2 (11:21, 16:21) to M. Paulikienė and A. Raupelytė.
Vlada Oganauskienė and Gabija Oganauskaitė reached the quarterfinals of the Lithuanian championship. This was the first appearance of the mother and daughter duo in the history of the Lithuanian championships.
Dramatic men’s battles
In the very large Lithuanian men’s beach volleyball championship, which attracted as many as 45 teams, the duo of Audrius Knašas and Povilas Piešina triumphed for the first time.
The excitement began already in the quarterfinals, where experienced and long-time Lithuanian championship prize-winners Artūras Vasiljevas and Robertas Juchnevičius lost the initiative and unexpectedly lost 1:2 (21:12, 20:22, 9:15) to Jokūbas Lošys and Andžej Savostenokas.
In the semifinals, A. Knašas and P. Piešina quite confidently defeated J. Lošys and A. Savostenokas 2:0 (21:12, 21:10). Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, Edvinas Vaškelis and Patrikas Stankevičius beat last year’s Lithuanian champions Arnas Rumševičius and Karolis Palubinskas 2:1 (21:17, 15:21, 15:8).
Only before this tournament did P. Stankevičius and E. Vaškelis form a team, and in the final, they posed a serious challenge to A. Knašas and P. Piešina. However, after a beautiful three-set battle, the duo of A. Knašas and P. Piešina won 2:1 (18:21, 21:16, 15:11).
P. Stankevičius, who became Lithuanian champion with A. Knašas a few years ago, started the final more successfully together with one of the best Lithuanian indoor volleyball players, E. Vaškelis. Powerful blocks and precise hits allowed them to win the first set.
However, as the second set progressed, A. Knašas and P. Piešina took over the initiative and leveled the overall score. The third set started fiercely – the score was tied at 5:5. Then A. Knašas and P. Piešina scored several points in a row and maintained the lead until the end of the match.
“A lot of emotions. We put a lot of work into this medal. The years were tough, but they paid off. A very sweet end to the season,” said P. Piešina after the final.
A. Knašas did not hide his emotions and tears after the final. He lost the Lithuanian championship final two years in a row, so this title is very important to him.
“So much has built up over those two years that I didn’t know where to put it. The tears came out by themselves – from joy, pain, stress, nerves, and everything we experienced over these years,” admitted A. Knašas.
Speaking about success in the final, A. Knašas did not hide that the most important thing was not to lose the pace and sooner or later take over the initiative.
“The third set is always a matter of will and dedication. Heart and character determine the most. There were several important balls in the decisive set where the desire to win decided everything,” said the Lithuanian champions.
A. Knašas and P. Piešina emphasized that the title of Lithuanian champions will further strengthen the recognition of this duo and their ambitions for future battles.
Bronze medals were won by A. Rumševičius and K. Palubinskas, who defeated J. Lošys and A. Savostenokas 2:0 (21:14, 21:16) in the match for third place.
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