The six nations chasing their first #EuroBeachVolley medals

A total of 171 medals have been awarded across the first 29 editions of the #EuroBeachVolley and yet, six nations will be looking for their first podium appearances in this year’s edition of the tournament, which will be part of the European Championships Munich, from August 15-21.

In its 29 years of history, the top beach volleyball continental tournament saw teams from as many as 14 different nations end the event with a medal around their necks – Germany (34), Norway (21), Italy (20), the Netherlands (20), Switzerland (20), the Czech Republic (12), Spain (9), Austria (8), Latvia (8), Russia (7), Greece (4), Poland (4), France (2) and Finland (1).

Each edition brings new candidates to join the group and the #EuroBeachVolley 2022 is no different. When the event begins at the Königsplatz next month, six European nations will be looking to compete for their first podium appearances in the event.

Denmark

Denmark is set to return to the #EuroBeachVolley for the first time since 2012, when Anders Hoyer and Bo Soderberg were 25^th in The Hague. The Danish will be represented by one team in each gender in Munich, with Kristoffer Abell/Jacob Brink competing among the men and Clara Windeleff/Sofia Bisgaard playing in the women’s tournament. The men have been more successful at the senior level so far, having won a bronze medal in the Beach Pro Tour Futures event in Lecce last weekend, while the women, who are both 20, have shown great promise by taking bronze at last year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU20 and silver at this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU22.

Estonia

Kusti Nolvak and Mart Tiisaar represented Estonia in the last three editions of the #EuroBeachVolley but they couldn’t make it past 17^th place. That is very likely to change in 2022 as the two are playing some of the best beach volleyball of their careers right now. Nolvak and Tiisaar found their groove in their sixth year as partners and have had some of their best results over the last three months, including fourth-place finishes in Beach Pro Tour events in Itapema (Challenge) and Jurmala (Elite16) and a fifth-place at the World Championships in Rome.

Israel

Eylon Elazar and Netanel Ohana will be the first to have the opportunity of fighting for an Israeli medal at the #EuroBeachVolley after they qualified the country for its first-ever appearance in the event this year. They have recently been ranked among the 40 top teams in the world, another unprecedented achievement in their country, after they won three straight medals in Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Cervia (bronze), Klaipeda (silver) and Ios (silver).

Slovenia

Slovenia is back at the #EuroBeachVolley after five years – Jan Pokersnik and Nejc Zemljak were 17^th in Jurmala in 2017. This season the country will be represented by a female duo, something that last happened in 2012, with Tjasa Kotnik and Tajda Lovsin embracing the challenge of making their country proud in Munich. Kotnik, 29, and Lovsin, 23, have been partners since 2019 and have been in great form at the Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe, winning consecutive silver medals in Klaipeda and Ios.

Sweden

Wonderkids David Ahman and Jonathan Hellvig are set to bring Sweden back to the #EuroBeachVolley after six years, when Karin Lundqvist and Anne Rinisland were ninth in Biel. Despite the fact they’ll be competing among the continent’s elite for the first time in their careers, the 20-year-old Swedes are ready to make noise after they won U18, U20 and U22 European titles, a U21 world title and the Youth Olympics all in the last four years, as well as a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Kuşadası just two months ago.

Ukraine

Ukraine will have the largest contingent among the nations without a medal in this year’s #EuroBeachVolley with three teams, all of them in the women’s tournament. Among them are 18-year-olds Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko, who won the #EuroBeachVolleyU18 in 2020, the U21 World Championships last year and took bronze in this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU22. Between them, Valentyna Davidova/Diana Lunina and Inna Makhno/Iryna Makhno, the country has a good shot at targeting their first medal.