At the recent BVA U20 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championships held in Marathon, Greece and Moldova, beneficiaries of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support, collectively earned three out of six possible medals. Host nation Greece celebrated a gold medal in the women`s category with Eleni Alexoglou and Myrto Paschalaki. Moldova secured two bronze medals, with Daria Usatova & Valeria Gherman in the women`s event and Daniil Didorciuc & Alexei Usatov in the men`s event. Bulgaria`s Zahari Zgurov & Georgi Antov claimed gold in the men`s competition, while Türkiye`s Tuna Imdat & Baris Gudali (men`s) and Su Simdim & Bahar Dogan (women`s) took home silver medals.
The Greek beach volleyball program has received a significant USD 262,500 from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment to support their national beach volleyball pairs, coached by Konstantinos Pothitakis and Efstathios Chandrinos. Similarly, Moldova`s national beach volleyball teams have benefited from a USD 42,000 grant from the same program, with their training overseen by Bulgarian coach Vladimir Orlov.
Eleni Alexoglou and Myrto Paschalaki of Greece demonstrated remarkable performance, sweeping through the women’s U20 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championship without losing a single set across five matches. Their path to gold included an all-Greek semifinal win (2-0, 21-7, 21-18) against Aikaterini Liofti & Kyriaki Koukouditska, followed by a decisive 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) victory over Türkiye’s Su Simdim & Bahar Dogan in the final.
Prior to the final, Simdim & Dogan defeated Moldova`s Daria Usatova & Valeria Gherman 2-0 (21-16, 21-8) in their semifinal match. However, Usatova & Gherman resiliently bounced back to claim the bronze medal with a hard-fought 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) victory over their Greek counterparts, Liofti & Koukouditska.
Women’s Results and Standings
In the men’s competition, Moldova`s Daniil Didorciuc & Alexei Usatov, after finishing as pool runners-up, fell to eventual champions Zahari Zgurov & Georgi Antov of Bulgaria in the semifinals. They successfully rebounded, securing the bronze medal with a convincing 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) win over Türkiye’s Nevzat Kaan Erol & Polat Kemal Eser, ensuring their place on the podium.
Bulgaria’s Zgurov & Antov dominated their pool stage without dropping a set, though their journey to the Balkan title later involved two challenging tie-breakers. They first staged a 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-12) comeback against Didorciuc & Usatov in the semifinals. In the thrilling gold medal match, the Bulgarians triumphed in a nail-biting 2-1 (21-19, 22-24, 17-15) battle against Türkiye’s Tuna Imdat & Baris Gudali.
The other men’s semifinal was an all-Turkish affair, where Imdat & Baris secured a decisive 2-0 (21-9, 21-15) win over Erol & Polat Kemal Eser.
Men’s Results and Standings
The BVA U20 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championships in Marathon featured eight women’s and eight men’s teams, representing Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and Türkiye.
Finley Blackwood 
Jasper Thornfield