Åhman/Hellvig continue gold streak in Ostrava

Both the Swedish youngsters and reigning world champions Hughes/Cheng stepped up to defeat last year’s Ostrava gold medalists. While Åhman/Hellvig kept their winning streak going, the Americans collected their first gold of the season.

Reigning European champions Åhman/Hellvig have already been playing an impressive season so far, having claimed gold at the Elite16 events in Tepic and Espinho, as well as silver in Doha, where they lost the final to Boermans/de Groot. This time they got their revenge and beat the Dutch duo in straight sets (21-19, 21-18).

Partain/Benesh claimed the bronze medal in Ostrava for the second time after their podium placement last year. As a result, they received their best placement on the Beach Pro Tour so far in the 2024 season. In the bronze medal match, they faced Beach Volley Vikings Mol/Sørum, who won gold at the Ostrava Elite16 last year, and beat them mercilessly in two sets (21-15, 21-14). Nevertheless, it was a strong result for the Norwegians in their comeback tournament - they last played in Doha before Mol suffered a foot injury.

All of Ostrava’s top four men’s duos have also qualified for the Paris Olympics this summer, where there’s a good chance they’ll face off once more. Mol/Sørum are not just the only team among them to have already competed in the Olympic Games, but have come out as gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics. We remain excited to see whether they will step on the podium again or need to admit defeat to the new talents in the pool.

The women’s gold medal went to none other than reigning world champions Hughes/Cheng. It is their first title on the Beach Pro Tour this season and also their first since their triumph at the World Championships last year. While this is a step up for the team from last year’s performance, where they made fifth place, although Cheng already won the event in 2021 with former partner Sponcil. This time, Hughes/Cheng beat Canadian top duo Melissa/Brandie 2-1 (21-13, 21-23, 15-12).

The third place on the podium was earned by Latvian beach stars Tina/Anastasija. They improved on last year's 13th place by beating Brazilians Ana Patrícia/Duda, who won gold at the 2023 event. The Latvians also just claimed the silver medal in Stare Jablonki, so we’re excited to see whether they’ll be able to keep their momentum going.

As world champions, Hughes/Cheng secured themselves a spot at the Paris Olympics, whereas Ana Patrícia/Duda, Melissa/Brandie and Tina/Anastasija earned their qualification through their points in the world ranking. Out of the eight players, Hughes is the only one without Olympic experience; Cheng competed in Tokyo with Sponcil. Out of the other three, Tina/Anastasija are the only ones to have already competed together at the Olympic Games – Duda, Ana Patrícia, Brandie and Melissa each competed with other partners.