Category: Beach Volleyball
Pictured (left to right): Michele Bennato (Event Operation Director), Gabriele Pagliarani (Tiki26 Beach Club), Bak/Gras (NED), Van Vegten/De Groot (NED), Piccoli/Foresti (ITA), Carlton Myers (B-Side Management), Enrico Lupatelli (PowerBeach).
Dutch teams showcased their dominance at the recent Beach Volleyball event hosted by the Western European Volleyball Zonal Association (WEVZA) in Rimini. The popular Italian seaside town on the Adriatic coast witnessed a strong performance from the Netherlands.
The final match for the gold medal was an all-Dutch affair, with Leanne van Vegten and Jill de Groot defeating their compatriots Marly Bak and Bjorna Gras in straight sets (21-14, 21-16). Meanwhile, the bronze medal was claimed by Italy`s Anna Piccoli and Martina Foresti. They secured their podium spot after a hard-fought three-set victory (21-14, 23-21, 18-16) against fellow Italian team Luna Cicola and Andrea Maria Nucete in the third-place playoff.
The WEVZA zonal competition was successfully organized by promoter PowerBeach in collaboration with B-Side Management. The event received support from the Municipality of Rimini and featured VAR GROUP, IMA, Subaru, and Macron as key sponsors.
The best result among the host teams from PowerBeach was achieved by Valeria Tallevi Diotallevi and Giada Godenzoni, who finished the tournament in fifth place. Their run ended in the quarter-finals following a 1-2 defeat (21-13, 15-21, 16-18) to the eventual bronze medalists, Cicola and Nucete.