The Germans took down the Norwegian stars in the Round of 12 in the Swiss Alps.
Repeating their performance from the Paris Olympics semifinals less than a year ago, Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler once again stunned Norwegian powerhouses Anders Mol and Christian Sørum. On Friday, they defeated the current FIVB World Ranking leaders in the Round of 12 at this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event in Gstaad.
The German Olympic medalists are now among the top eight teams still competing for the title in the Swiss Alps. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with the medal matches set for Sunday.
Although Ehlers and Wickler lost their opening pool play match in Gstaad on Wednesday, they secured two consecutive victories to advance. Mol and Sørum, conversely, had won both their previous matches in straight sets before Friday`s confrontation. However, once the match began, the Germans controlled the play and won in two sets (23-21, 21-16).
This marks only the second time since 2022 that the Germans have defeated the Tokyo Olympic champions in nine matches. Their previous victory was in Paris; between that triumph and their win in Gstaad, Mol and Sørum had beaten them at last year’s Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha.
With their win in the Round of 12, Ehlers and Wickler, who had earlier swept another Norwegian team, Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen (21-16, 21-13) in the Round of 18 on Friday, guaranteed their best result of the 2025 season, finishing at least fifth in Gstaad.
In the quarterfinals, the German pair will face the Dutch team of Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot. Boermans and de Groot advanced by eliminating Swiss players Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan in a thrilling three-set match (22-20, 16-21, 15-12) in the Round of 12.
Despite their Round of 12 loss, Mol and Sørum still qualified for the quarterfinals in Gstaad as one of the top two teams that lost their matches in that round. The Beach Volley Vikings are now set to play against Brazilian Olympians André Loyola and George Wanderley. André and George had defeated Australians Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert in two sets (21-19, 21-9) in the Round of 18 and also swept Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan (21-15, 21-19) in the Round of 12.
Young Swedes Continue to Impress
Similar to the Brazilians, young Swedish pair Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson also reached the quarterfinals, having started their tournament journey in the qualifier on Wednesday. This achievement marks their best-ever finish together in a Beach Pro Tour Elite tournament. The reigning U22 European champions previously won two Challenge events in 2024.
The 20-year-old Hölting Nilsson and 19-year-old Andersson secured two significant victories on Friday in Gstaad. They swept reigning European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia (21-14, 21-19) in the Round of 18, and then overcame the home favorites Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier in straight sets (21-16, 23-21) in the Round of 12.
The Swedish duo will now compete against Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci. Like the Swedes, Evandro and Arthur won two matches on Friday, defeating Americans Andy Benesh and Miles Partain 2-1 (11-21, 21-19, 15-8) in the Round of 18, and securing a two-set victory (21-17, 21-17) against Dutch opponents Matthew Immers and Leon Luini in the Round of 12.
The fourth and final quarterfinal match on Saturday will feature the Dutch pair Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde, who advanced by defeating Cubans Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz in straight sets (26-24, 21-16). They will play against Cherif and Ahmed of Qatar, who progressed to the quarterfinals despite their earlier loss to André and George.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick