Gustavs Auzins & Kristians Fokerots appeared on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour for the first time as a team and crowned their debut with gold. On Sunday, the 19-year-old Latvians topped the men’s podium at the Baden Futures, leaving the silver and the bronze to pairs from the host country Austria - Timo Hammarberg & Tim Berger and Laurenz Leitner & Philipp Waller. Belgium’s Sarah Cools & Lisa Van Den Vonder claimed the women’s gold, while Estonia’s Heleene Hollas & Liisa Remmelg and Ukraine’s Maryna Hladun & Tetiana Lazarenko completed the podium.

Auzins & Fokerots, who earned the titles of U19 world champions and U18 European champions in 2022, reunited to make their Beach Pro Tour debut at the Baden Futures and cruised through the tournament without losing a single set in five matches played. On the last competition day, the fifth-seeded Latvian teens mastered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) sweep of their semifinal against ninth-seeded Solomon Bushby & Ben Hood of Australia, before achieving a 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) victory over third-seeded Berger & Hammarberg in the gold medal showdown. It was already the fourth Beach Pro Tour podium for Kristians Fokerots, who had previously medalled with experienced partners like Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs.

Berger & Hammarberg, both born in 2024, who also triumphed as European champions in 2022, but in the U20 category, and followed up with an FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championship silver in 2023, also made it to the Baden final undefeated. They crowned their winning streak with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) semifinal upset of second-seeded compatriots Leitner & Waller to secure the pair’s second Beach Pro Tour medal, after the Mallorca Futures gold in October.

Leitner & Waller, who also appeared on the Beach Pro Tour for the first time as a duo, bounced back with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) shutout of Bushby & Hood in the bronze medal match.

The women’s tournament finished a day earlier, on Saturday. Cools & Van Den Vonder picked up their second gold and fourth overall Beach Pro Tour medal. They also have four medals in their collection from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The third-seeded Belgian pair won all five of their matches in Baden, but in the last four they were pushed to tie-breaker resolutions. In the semifinals, Cools & Van Den Vonder managed a 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-11) win over second-seeded Hladun & Lazarenko to secure their third consecutive podium on the Tour (after the Mallorca Futures gold in October and the Madrid Futures bronze in May) and advance to the final.

Meanwhile, Hollas & Remmelg entered the tournament as the fourth-seeded team in the qualification bracket and played as many as eight matches in Baden, winning six of them on the way to their fourth Beach Pro Tour podium. In their semifinal, the Estonian duo, seeded 11^th in the main draw, produced a 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) victory over another team emerging from the qualifiers, Czechia’s Valerie Dvornikova & Anna Pospisilova.

In the gold medal match, Cools & Van Den Vonder and Hollas & Remmelg met for the second time at the tournament and pushed their battle to a third set again. Just like in the Pool C winners’ game, the Belgian team came back from a set down to celebrate a hard-fought 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 17-15) victory, leaving the Estonians with their fourth silver medal on the Tour.

Ukraine’s Hladun & Lazarenko claimed their second back-to-back bronze (after also finishing third at the Ios Futures a week earlier) and third overall Beach Pro Tour podium after a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) sweep of the third place match against Dvornikova & Pospisilova.

24 men’s and 28 women’s teams representing a total of 21 different countries took part in the Baden Futures. The next Futures event will take place in Rakvere, Estonia from July 3 to 6.

Baden Futures: results and standings

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