Teams receiving support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program achieved a clean sweep of the men`s podium at the recent Warsaw Futures event on the Beach Pro Tour in Poland. Lithuanian duo Arnas Rumsevicius and Karolis Palubinskas secured their inaugural Beach Pro Tour gold, marking Palubinskas`s first-ever Tour medal at just 20 years old. They were joined on the podium by Ukraine`s Anton Moiseiev and Vitalii Savvin, who took silver, and Estonia`s Mart Tiisaar and Dimitriy Korotkov, who earned bronze.
The Lithuanian Volleyball Federation has received substantial assistance from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment initiative, totaling USD 477,000 for coach support for their national beach volleyball duos, plus an additional USD 12,000 for national team coach development programs. Under coach Gytis Garbaciauskas`s guidance, Rumsevicius and Palubinskas, seeded fourth, overcame an initial loss to Tiisaar & Korotkov to claim five successive victories and the Warsaw Futures title. Their path included a narrow 2-0 (22-20, 24-22) semifinal win against Czech qualifiers Krystof Jan Oliva & Vaclav Kurka, followed by a final victory via forfeit due to an injury withdrawal from Ukraine`s Moiseiev & Savvin. This triumph marked Palubinskas’s first Beach Pro Tour medal, while his 30-year-old teammate Rumsevicius had previously earned a bronze with a different partner.
Since 2022, the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has provided the Ukraine Volleyball Federation with total funding of USD 670,000, enabling continued engagement in volleyball and beach volleyball activities as part of an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding. Moiseiev and Savvin demonstrated remarkable form in Warsaw, advancing to the final without dropping a single set across six matches, including a thrilling 2-0 (25-23, 23-21) semifinal triumph over Tiisaar & Korotkov. Their unfortunate injury-related withdrawal from the gold medal match secured them a silver medal finish. This marked the second Tour podium appearance for the young Ukrainian pair, aged 20 and 21 respectively, following their silver at the Marica Futures in December.
The Estonian Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball teams, guided by Beijing 2008 Olympian Rivo Vesik, have benefited from USD 168,000 in coach support through FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, alongside USD 11,500 for beach volleyball equipment. The 13th-seeded duo of Tiisaar and Korotkov reached the semifinals with a streak of three consecutive victories. After a close defeat to the Ukrainian team, they secured the bronze medal by winning a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 20-22, 15-13) match against Oliva & Kurka. This achievement marked their first Beach Pro Tour medal as a duo.
The men`s Warsaw Futures tournament saw participation from 27 duos representing 17 different national federations.
The women`s Warsaw Futures event is scheduled for later this week, from September 11 to 14.
Men’s Warsaw Futures: Results and Standings
Further details, results, and standings for the Men`s Warsaw Futures are available.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood