Hammarberg/Berger shine at the MASTERS in Innsbruck

From September 19 to 22, the MASTERS returned to Innsbruck, turning the city's marketplace into a vibrant beach volleyball hotspot, where local heroes and international stars clashed in the sand for the third year running.

Among the Austrian men's teams, there were some exciting pairings that brought pure beach volleyball action. Olympic participant Alex Horst teamed up with Christoph Dressler, who recently claimed the "King of the Court" title in Utrecht. This year’s national champion, Maximilian Trummer, partnered with Laurenc Grössig in an interim duo, while Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger formed the well-known young star duo. Moritz Kindl and Mathias Seiser also celebrated their joint comeback during the tournament, after Kindl spent the current season preparing intensively for his return to beach volleyball following an ACL injury – aside from a few smaller tournaments and the European Championships in the Netherlands. The top-seeded international teams included Dumek/Milichovsky (CZE), Petruf/Nemec L. (SVK), and Tari/Veress (HUN).

The men’s semifinals turned out to be a red-white-red spectacle, with Trummer/Grössig successfully defeating the 2022 national champions Seiser/Kindl 21:19 and 21:11. However, Seiser/Kindl could not maintain their strong performance from the previous season in the bronce medal match, losing unexpectedly to the interim duo Schnetzer/Pascariuc 2:0 (21:11, 21:16), despite some spectacular rallies.

The grand finale of the MASTERS in Innsbruck was marked by a thrilling showdown between the nearly undefeated team Trummer/Grössig and the U21 World Championship silver medalists of 2023, Hammarberg/Berger. After a shaky start in the first set, Trummer/Grössig managed to gain a 5:2 lead but couldn’t hold onto it. Instead, the young stars fought their way back and secured the first set with a score of 21:18. While the second set was a neck-and-neck battle for the most part, Hammarberg/Berger clinched the win with a sensational side-out on match point, sealing the final with a 21:17 victory. The celebrations from both the fans and the two young beach talents were huge! After proving their skills with a 9th-place finish at the Elite16 in Hamburg just a month ago, this victory in Innsbruck is yet another milestone in Hammarberg/Berger’s promising young career.

Although no Austrian women's team made it to the finals due to strong international competition, two Austrian duos – Michaela Handler-Hollaus/Katharina Holzer and Anna Mayr/Stephanie Wiesmeyr – secured spots in the main competition. Holzer/Handler-Hollaus advanced to fifth place but unfortunately lost in the quarterfinals to the Slovakian team Poszmiková/Kapralova (SLO) (2:0). However, Poszmiková/Kapralova were unable to continue their winning streak and were defeated by Javornik/Marolt (SVN) with scores of 21:17 and 21:18, allowing the Slovenian pair to advance to the finals. In the second semifinal, Tomasova/Kubickova (CZE) earned their ticket to the final by defeating Kun/Windisch (HUN) in three sets: 18:21, 21:19, 15:7.

In the bronze medal match, the Hungarian duo, who also placed second in Innsbruck 2023, engaged in another three-set battle and secured third place against Poszmiková/Kapralova (SLO) with a solid performance (21:18, 21:13, 15:11).

Finally, the women’s final was a nail-biter, as beach volleyball fans got their money's worth when Tomasova/Kubickova (CZE) and Javornik/Marolt (SVN) delivered a beach thriller in three sets. The underdogs Tomasova/Kubickova (CZE) started with a surprise, winning the first set 21:18 thanks to consistent play. The second set was equally thrilling; just when the Czechs were one match point away from victory, Javornik/Marolt (SVN) relied on their beach experience to equalize at 22:20. In the final set, Javornik/Marolt, the winners of Innsbruck 2023, fulfilled their role as favourites and took control in the tiebreak. With a decisive score of 15:6, they crowned themselves champions in Innsbruck once again.