Arnas Rumsevicius and Karolis Palubinskas of Lithuania achieved a significant milestone, winning their first gold medal on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour at the men`s Warsaw Futures event in Poland. This victory marked a career-first Tour medal for the 20-year-old Palubinskas. Joining them on the podium were Ukraine`s Anton Moiseiev & Vitalii Savvin, who secured silver, and Estonia`s Mart Tiisaar & Dimitriy Korotkov, who took home the bronze.
Despite a rocky start with an initial loss to Tiisaar & Korotkov, the fourth-seeded Lithuanian pair, Rumsevicius and Palubinskas, quickly found their rhythm. They embarked on an impressive winning streak, securing five consecutive victories to claim the Warsaw Futures title. Their path to gold included a narrow 2-0 (22-20, 24-22) semifinal win against Czech qualifiers Krystof Jan Oliva & Vaclav Kurka. The final match saw them awarded a victory by forfeit, as their opponents, the 10th-seeded Moiseiev & Savvin, had to withdraw due to injury. While this was Palubinskas`s inaugural Beach Pro Tour medal, his 30-year-old partner, Rumsevicius, had previously secured a bronze medal with a different teammate.
The Ukrainian duo, Moiseiev and Savvin, had an undefeated run of six matches from the qualification rounds up to the semifinals, not dropping a single set. Their strong performance culminated in a dramatic 2-0 (25-23, 23-21) semifinal victory over Tiisaar & Korotkov, guaranteeing them at least a silver medal. This marks the second Tour podium finish for the young team of 20-year-old Moiseiev and 21-year-old Savvin, following their Marica Futures silver medal last December.
The 13th-seeded Estonian pair, Tiisaar & Korotkov, entered the semifinals on a three-match winning streak. After their close defeat to the Ukrainian team, they regrouped to secure third place with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 20-22, 15-13) win against Oliva & Kurka, earning their first Beach Pro Tour medal together.
A total of 27 men`s teams, representing 17 different national federations, competed in the Warsaw Futures event. The women`s Warsaw Futures tournament is scheduled to take place later this week, from September 11 to 14.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick