Race for the last spots in the Finals starts in Messina

The final three places for both genders in the 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals will be decided this week. The first of these crucial qualification events is set to take place in Messina, Italy, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Messina, which is also hosting a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event over the weekend at Piazza Duomo, will first welcome women`s teams from Belgium and France and men`s teams from Denmark and Germany. These nations will challenge the host country squads in the Beach Nations Cup, an exciting `country vs country` format introduced in 2022, similar to the Davis Cup in tennis.

The seven pool winners in each gender will advance to join hosts Portugal at the Finals, scheduled to be held in Espinho from July 17-20. To date, Spain, Estonia, Germany, and the Netherlands have already qualified among the women, while Spain, the Netherlands, Czechia, and France have secured their spots on the men`s side.

Competing on home sand, Italy will field their top teams in Messina this week aiming for qualification. The Italian women`s team will be spearheaded by Paris Olympian Valentina Gottardi and her partner Reka Orsi Toth, supported by Beach Pro Tour regulars Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Women’s Pool D

The home teams will face strong opposition from France, who are sending the two duos that represented the country at last year’s Paris Olympics: Lézana Placette/Alexia Richard and Clémence Vieira/Aline Chamerau.

Belgium will look to play the role of dark horses with their teams of Inès Piret/Youna Coens and Simone Vervloet/Lente Thant.

On the men`s side, Italy boasts two players with Olympic experience. Paris Olympian Samuele Cottafava will team up with Gianluca Dal Corso, while Enrico Rossi, who competed in the Tokyo Games, will partner with Marco Viscovich.

CEV Beach Nations Cup – Men’s Pool E

Beach volleyball powerhouse Germany will rely on the Sagstetter brothers, Benedikt and Jonas, who are currently in excellent form on the Beach Pro Tour, alongside the duo of Momme Lorenz and Tilo Rietschel, to secure their spot in the Beach Nations Cup Finals.

Completing the men`s lineup in Messina are the Danish teams featuring Kristoffer Abell/Villads Napier and Mads Møllgaard/Nicolai Hovmann.

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