Gottardi and Orsi Toth earn first Beach Pro Tour gold
Orsi Toth and Gottardi dropped only two sets over the week in Hamburg
A new team on the 2025 season of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth celebrated their first title as partners on Sunday, when they triumphed in the Elite event held in Hamburg.
🥇 Valentina Gottardi / Reka Orsi Toth (Italy)
🥈 Thamela Coradello / Victoria Lopes (Brazil)
🥉 Duda Lisboa / Ana Patricia Ramos (Brazil)
The ecstatic Italians made it to the top of the podium at the Am Rothenbaum Stadium flanked by two Brazilian teams, as Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes ranked second and Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos were third in the seventh Elite event of the season.
Watch Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite replays on VBTV
In order to win gold for the first time as teammates, the Italians had to play a tie-breaker for the second time in the week, lighting up after a first-set loss to overcome FIVB World Ranking leaders Thamela and Victoria 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 15-6) in the gold medal match.
“It’s such an honor to play here,” Orsi Toth reacted. “When I was growing up, I used to watch my older sister (Tokyo Olympian Viktoria Orsi Toth) competing around the world and hope that one day I could play in a tournament like this. Winning gold here today is like a dream coming true.”
Since they became partners, in April, the Italians played in six Beach Pro Tour events and, ironically, their first victory came after the most frustrating of them, the Montreal Elite, where they dropped all three pool play matches without winning sets (one of them for Thamela and Victoria) and finished 13th.
“The last tournament was very difficult for us because Reka was coming back from an injury,” Gottardi revealed. “But this week she showed the great player she is. I’m very proud of her for how she played here in Hamburg.”
The victory in Hamburg also marked the first gold for an Italian female team in an Elite event of the Beach Pro Tour. It was the team’s second medal, alongside a silver won at the Alanya Challenge in June.
Olympic champions keep Germany off the podium
Brazil had a second team on the podium in Hamburg after reigning Olympic champions Duda and Ana Patricia denied home heroes Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann a medal by taking them down in straight sets, 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) in the dispute for bronze.
Photo credit: volleyballworld.com
