The Dutch duo Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz, benefiting from support via the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program, secured a bronze medal in the women`s competition at the Leuven Futures tournament on the Beach Pro Tour. The gold medal in the women`s event was claimed by Austrian teenagers Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer, while Belgian home favorites Youna Coens and Sarah Cools earned silver. In an all-Belgian men`s final, Louis Vandecaveye and Gilles Vandecaveye emerged victorious against Kyan Vercauteren and Joppe Van Langendonck, with Polish athletes Piotr Kantor and Artem Besarab completing the podium in third place.
The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has received a total grant of USD 217,600 from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program, specifically allocated to support coaching staff for their national beach volleyball teams. The Dutch women`s pairs train under the supervision of Cypriot coach Antreas Savvidis and his team.
The 22-year-old Dutch pair, Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz, seeded third in the women`s main draw at Leuven, secured their third Beach Pro Tour medal. Their previous achievements include a silver in Leuven and a bronze in Castellon de la Plana last year. After suffering a loss deep in the tie-breaker overtime of their opening match, they rebounded with three consecutive victories to reach the semifinals, where they experienced their second defeat of the tournament. Nevertheless, they bounced back once more to claim the bronze, defeating Belgium`s Britt Ruysschaert and Isabel Van den Broeck 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) in the third-place playoff.
Seventeen-year-old Lia Berger and eighteen-year-old Lilli Hohenauer from Austria clinched their first-ever Beach Pro Tour gold medal. Previously, only Berger had earned a medal on the Tour, a bronze at the Balikesir Futures last year with a different partner. The reigning U18 European champions experienced only one defeat in Leuven, which occurred in their pool final against the top-seeded Peruvian duo of Lisbeth Allcca and Claudia Gaona. Following this, they embarked on a four-game winning streak, culminating in a decisive 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Belgium`s Youna Coens and Sarah Cools in the gold medal match.
In the semifinals, the eighth-seeded Austrian pair delivered a dominant 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) win over Ruysschaert and Van den Broeck. Concurrently, the fourth-seeded Coens and Cools secured their place on the podium by defeating Luini and Poiesz 2-0 (21-15, 21-18), marking a successful debut as partners on the Beach Pro Tour.
The top-seeded men`s pair, Louis Vandecaveye and Gilles Vandecaveye, met expectations by claiming gold in Leuven, marking their second consecutive victory after also triumphing at the Ios Futures. This success brings their total medal count on the Beach Pro Tour to five. They thrilled the Belgian home crowd with an undefeated run of five wins, highlighted by a come-from-behind 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-12) win against fellow Belgians and reigning U21 world champions, Kyan Vercauteren and Joppe Van Langendonck, in the gold medal match.
The third-seeded Vercauteren and Van Langendonck also advanced to the final without a single loss. They orchestrated a comeback from a set down to secure a 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 15-11) semifinal victory over Polish qualifiers Piotr Kantor and Artem Besarab, thereby guaranteeing their third Beach Pro Tour podium finish. In the alternate semifinal, the Vandecaveye brothers achieved a narrow 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) win against the fourth-seeded duo, Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek of Czechia.
Two-time Olympian Kantor, alongside 19-year-old Besarab, marked their inaugural joint appearance on the Beach Pro Tour with a bronze medal, following a 2-0 (21-17, 23-21) victory against Waber and Jezek in the third-place play-off.
A total of 27 women`s teams and 28 men`s teams, representing 24 nations from all five continental confederations, competed in the Leuven Futures tournament. Upcoming Futures events are scheduled for Tallinn, Estonia (August 13-16) and Busan Gwangalli, South Korea (August 14-17).
Detailed results and standings from the Leuven Futures tournament are available.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood