Åhman and Hellvig back up to speed at the EuroBeachVolley
News
Defending champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig entered the 2023 A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley looking for match rhythm after missing the last two months of international competition due to an injury and that’s exactly what the Swedish got in Vienna on Thursday, when the men’s tournament began.
With two victories in Pool C and a direct spot in the tournament’s Round of 16, the 21-year-old Swedish successfully started their title defense at the Danube Island. The defending champions had a rough start in their opening match, coming from behind to top Austrians Christoph Dressler and Mathias Seiser in the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-14, 15-13), but looked more like their usual selves in the ‘pool final’, where they dominated young French Arthur Canet and Téo Rotar to a two-set (21-15, 21-17) victory.
Åhman and Hellvig hadn’t been on the court together in international events since the start of June, when they were forced to withdraw from a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Czechia because of a hand injury sustained by Hellvig.
Jonatan Hellvig“It feels great to be back. I think we were a bit nervous on the first match. We didn’t get to our usual level, but still managed to win, which was very fortunate. We played much better on the second match and now it feels like we’re back for good. Our families and friends are here, as well as a lot of Swedish people who we didn’t know were coming. It’s super fun to have their support.”
Swedish Beach Volleyball Player
The Swedish will try to repeat their successful campaign from the 2022 EuroBeachVolley in Vienna, but they know that now they start from a different position than the one they had last year, when they were dark horses at the start of the event.
David Åhman“Last year we didn’t think we had a chance of winning it. Now we know that it’s possible, but we’ll certainly need to give our all to make it happen. We were a little below our level on the first match, but now it feels like we’re getting back to it now.”
Swedish Beach Volleyball Player
Reigning world and Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum were the top team in Pool A. Still undefeated in Vienna, the Norwegians debuted with a two-set (21-18, 21-12) victory over Israelis Eylon Elazar and Netanel Ohana and later faced their compatriots Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen, prevailing in the tie-breaker (19-21, 21-15, 15-9).
In Pool B, Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava were the most dominant team. The two had a strong performance to sweep (21-18, 21-8) compatriots Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi in their opening match and later had to grind to produce a 2-1 (19-21, 21-13, 15-12) win over the Spanish Huerta brothers Alejandro and Javier.
Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik topped two French teams to rank first in Pool D. The two started the day with a three-set (17-21, 21-15, 15-12) victory over the Aye brothers Quincy and Calvin and were even stronger in their second match, when they swept (21-15, 21-14) Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Rémi Bassereau.
Dutch Olympic medalists Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen were the winners of Pool E. The 2013 world champions won a three-set (21-14, 19-21, 15-12) battle with Czechs Tomas Semerad and Jakub Sepka in the first round and overcame Italian veterans Adrian Carambula 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) in their second match.
Pool F was topped by Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler, who had a strong day with a pair of sweeps in Vienna, against Austria’s Tim Berger/Timo Hammarberg (21-14, 21-11) and the Netherlands’ Yorick de Groot/Leon Luini (21-17, 21-16).
Another Dutch team finished at the top of Pool G after Steven van de Velde and Matthew Immers defeated the home team of Robin Seidl and Moritz Pristauz in three sets (20-22, 21-19, 15-11) in the ‘pool final’. Earlier, the two had prevailed over Poles Piotr Kantor and Jakub Zdybek in straight sets (21-19, 22-20).
Home heroes Alexander Horst and Julian Hörl were the final pool winners, topping Pool H. The two overcame compatriots Laurenz Leitner and Paul Pascariuc in the tie-breaker (21-18, 19-21, 15-11) in their first match and again needed all three sets (13-21, 21-15, 15-13) to defeat Spanish veterans Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira a few hours later.
Friday’s schedule for the men in Vienna will feature the eight Round of 24 and the eight Round of 16 matches. The quarterfinals will be held on Saturday and the semifinals and medal matches will end the tournament on Sunday.