Czech ladies and Italian men dominate Messina Futures podiums
Two Czech pairs earned their spots on the women’s podium at the Messina Futures in Italy, both claiming their second consecutive Futures medals on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, after the Prague Futures earlier this month, only switching their places. This time, Martina Maixnerova and Kylie Neuschaeferova took gold, while Katerina Pavelkova and Anna Pavelkova settled for bronze, with Switzerland’s Menia Bentele and Annique Niederhauser joining them on the podium with silver. In an all-Italian men’s final, Alex Ranghieri and Tobia Marchetto beat Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso, while Denmark’s Mads Mollgaard and Nicolai Houmann completed the podium.
Women’s Tournament
In Messina, third-seeded Czechs Maixnerova and Neuschaeferova dropped only a set in five matches played on the way to their first gold and second medal on the Beach Pro Tour as a pair. Another Czech pairing, that of 14th-seeded Lucie Knoblochova and Adela Petrikova, who came in through the qualifications, fell victim to Maixnerova and Neuschaeferova in the semifinals, 2-0 (21-17, 21-14). In the gold medal showdown, Maixnerova and Neuschaeferova battled it out for a tight 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) victory over Bentele and Niederhauser.
It was the second time the sixth-seeded Swiss duo met Maixnerova and Neuschaeferova at the tournament. Those were the only two losses Bentele and Niederhauser suffered in Messina. In their semifinal against top-seeded Pavelkova and Pavelkova, the Swiss came back from a set down to celebrate a 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-11) upset and guarantee themselves a medal, their first on the Tour as a team, and interrupt the 19-year-old Czech twins’ winning streak at the event.
The Pavelkovas reacted with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) sweep of the all-Czech third-place match against Knoblochova and Petrikova and picked up their third Futures medal in a row, after the Cervia silver and the Prague gold.
Women’s Final Standings
- 🥇 Martina Maixnerova and Kylie Neuschaeferova (Czech Republic)
- 🥈 Menia Bentele and Annique Niederhauser (Switzerland)
- 🥉 Katerina Pavelkova and Anna Pavelkova (Czech Republic)
Men’s Tournament
In what seems to have been a one-off attempt to test their luck on the Beach Pro Tour as a team, the Italian combo of two-time Olympian Alex Ranghieri with Tobia Marchetto proved absolutely successful. Starting from the qualifications, they won six games in a row to top the podium with gold. In the semifinals, the fourth-seeded Italians mastered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) victory over Denmark’s Mollgaard and Houmann, and in an all-Italian gold medal showdown, they put together a 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-13) victory over Cottafava and Dal Corso.
Second-seeded Cottafava and Dal Corso hammered out a 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) sweep of their semifinal against sixth-seeded Jannis Hopt and Simon Pfretzschner of Germany to achieve their first Beach Pro Tour podium together.
Fifth-seeded Mollgaard and Houmann took their third Beach Pro Tour Futures bronze in a row, after finishing third in Cervia and Krakow too. Both in their pool final and in their semifinal, the Danes lost to champions-to-be Ranghieri and Marchetto, their only defeats of the tournament, but bounced back to beat Hopt and Pfretzschner by a narrow 2-0 (21-17, 23-21) and make the podium.
Men’s Final Standings
- 🥇 Alex Ranghieri and Tobia Marchetto (Italy)
- 🥈 Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso (Italy)
- 🥉 Mads Mollgaard and Nicolai Houmann (Denmark)
24 women’s teams and 22 men’s teams representing 14 different countries took part in the Messina Futures. The next Futures event is this week, a women’s tournament in Geneva, Switzerland from June 26 to 29.
Photo credit: volleyballworld.com
