At last week`s Gstaad Elite Beach Pro Tour tournament, teams from Qatar, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Switzerland won medals with support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. In the men`s final, the Qatari pair Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan defeated young Swedes Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson. Bronze in the men`s event went to Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot from the Netherlands. In the women`s tournament, silver was claimed by Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova from Latvia, and bronze by the Swiss sisters Anouk Verge-Depre and Zoe Verge-Depre. The top prize (gold) in the women`s competition was won by Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher from the USA.
The Qatar Volleyball Association`s beach volleyball division has received a total of USD 294,000 from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for coaching support for their national beach volleyball teams, plus USD 11,500 for equipment. Qatar`s men`s duos train under the guidance of Argentine coach Pablo Bernardi. The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (NEVOBO) has been allocated USD 217,600 for coaching support for their national beach volleyball teams through the same program. Their men`s pairs are coached by Michiel van der Kuip, a European champion from 1995 as a player, and his staff.
Qatar`s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, seeded third in the men`s main draw in Gstaad, finished the tournament with a 5-1 win-loss record. This was enough for their second Beach Pro Tour gold medal of the season. In the semifinals, they defeated Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands 2-0 (21-16, 21-18), and in the final, they secured a tight 2-0 victory (21-19, 22-20) over Swedish qualifiers Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson. Cherif and Ahmed have now accumulated a total of four gold, three silver, and two bronze medals on the Beach Pro Tour.
The second-seeded Dutch pair Boermans and De Groot reached the Gstaad semifinals undefeated. After their loss to the Qatari duo, they bounced back with a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory (21-23, 21-17, 15-10) in the third-place match against strong Brazilians George Wanderley and Andre Stein. This bronze medal is their ninth together on the Beach Pro Tour.
20-year-old Holting Nilsson and 19-year-old Andersson started their Gstaad journey from the qualifications and finished the tournament with a 6-2 win-loss record, earning their first ever Elite-level medal. Previously, they had collected four golds and one bronze from Challenge and Futures tournaments. The young Swedes capped their successful run in Gstaad with a decisive 2-0 victory (21-15, 21-18) in their semifinal against George and Andre. For Andre, who had taken a break from beach volleyball, this was his first tournament of the season, so he and his partner also had to start from qualifications, ultimately finishing in fourth place.
The Volleyball Federation of Latvia has received USD 210,000 from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for coaching support for their national beach volleyball teams, plus USD 5,500 for equipment. Their women`s duos train under the guidance of Spanish coach Daniel Luis Wood Rodriguez. Swiss Volley`s beach volleyball department has been allocated USD 366,000 for coaching support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Thanks to this funding, their women`s national teams train under the instruction of Polish coach Damian Wojtasik.
Latvia`s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova won five of their seven matches in Switzerland, which was enough for silver. This is their second Beach Pro Tour medal of the season, following the silver at the Ostrava Elite tournament in the spring. Tina and Anastasija now have a total of 11 podium finishes on the Beach Pro Tour. In the Gstaad semifinals, the eighth-seeded Latvian pair secured a medal by defeating Swiss duo Tanja Huberli and Leona Kernen (seeded 11th) with a 2-0 victory (21-18, 24-22).
In the other semifinal, the top-seeded Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher defeated another home team, the sixth-seeded sisters Anouk and Zoe Verge-Depre, 2-0 (21-14, 21-17). They capped off their six-match winning streak at the tournament with a hard-fought 2-0 victory (21-19, 21-18) in the final against Tina and Anastasija. Nuss and Brasher`s Beach Pro Tour medal collection now includes 10 gold, four silver, and two bronze medals.
The local fans in Gstaad enjoyed an all-Swiss women`s bronze medal match. Anouk and Zoe reached the podium after a convincing 2-0 victory (21-17, 21-11). This medal is their fourth consecutive one on the Beach Pro Tour, following silver in Spiez (Futures), bronze in Ostrava (Elite), and gold in Alanya (Challenge).
The Gstaad Elite tournament featured 32 men`s teams and 32 women`s teams representing 22 different countries.
The next Elite event on the Beach Pro Tour will be held in Montreal, Canada, from August 13 to 17.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood