Teams receiving backing from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment dominated the Brno Futures Beach Pro Tour, claiming all women`s medals and a men`s bronze. Valerie Dvornikova and Michaela Brinkova from Czechia secured gold, with France`s Elsa Descamps and Anouk Dupin taking silver, and Estonia`s Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg earning bronze. On the men`s side, Switzerland`s Florian Breer and Luc Fluckiger also took bronze. Local spectators in Brno celebrated an all-Czech men`s final where Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak triumphed over Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek.
FIVB Empowerment: Fueling European Beach Volleyball Success
The Czech Volleyball Federation has benefited significantly from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, receiving $168,000 for women`s beach volleyball coach support and an additional $24,000 for national team coach development. Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo provides his expertise to their women`s teams. France`s beach volleyball program has received substantial support, with $1,077,000 in coaching funds from FIVB Empowerment, and their women`s national pairs are currently guided by Paris 2024 Olympian Youssef Krou. The French Federation also obtained $5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. Similarly, the Estonian Volleyball Federation`s beach volleyball division has been granted $168,000 in FIVB Empowerment coach support, with their national teams training under Beijing 2008 Olympian Rivo Vesik. Estonia additionally acquired $11,500 worth of equipment through the program.
Women`s Tournament Highlights
In Brno, the Czech duo of Valerie Dvornikova (22) and Michaela Brinkova (23) achieved their inaugural Beach Pro Tour gold medal. Both players had previously reached the podium with different partners. As the 11th seeds in the women`s main draw, they powered through five consecutive matches to secure the championship undefeated. Their path to the final included an intense all-Czech semifinal where they overcame fifth-seeded Anna Pospisilova and Daniela Mokra in a 2-1 comeback (15-21, 21-19, 16-14). In the final match, Dvornikova and Brinkova once again demonstrated resilience, securing a challenging 2-1 comeback win (27-29, 21-12, 15-12) against France’s Elsa Descamps and Anouk Dupin.
Anouk Dupin, 22, maintained her remarkable streak of podium finishes at every Beach Pro Tour event this year. Her 2025 medal haul now includes two golds, three silvers, and a bronze from six Futures tournaments with various partners, adding to a bronze from 2023. This silver in Brno marked her second consecutive medal alongside Elsa Descamps, following their silver at the Montpellier Futures just last month. For Descamps, this was her fourth career podium appearance on the Beach Pro Tour. The second-seeded French pair reached the Brno final by winning four matches consecutively, culminating in a tight 2-1 (21-12, 19-21, 17-15) semifinal victory against Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg.
The fourth-seeded Estonian team recovered impressively, clinching the bronze medal with a decisive 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) victory in the third-place match against Pospisilova and Mokra. This brought their tournament record to 4-1 and marked their eighth Beach Pro Tour medal.
Men`s Tournament Highlights
Swiss Volley`s beach volleyball division has received $366,000 in coaching support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. This funding enables their men`s national teams to train under the expert guidance of coach Philip Gabathuler.
In the men`s competition in Brno, Switzerland`s eighth-seeded duo, Florian Breer and Luc Fluckiger, secured their second joint Beach Pro Tour medal, building on their silver from the Geneva Futures in June. After a narrow semifinal defeat to Czechia`s Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek, they rallied to win the bronze medal match with a tough 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-13) victory over the ninth-seeded Slovakian pair, Lubos Nemec and Adrian Petruf.
The top-seeded men`s team, Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak, dominated the Brno tournament, winning all five matches without dropping a single set. This secured their second gold and third overall Beach Pro Tour medal. The Czech pair achieved a convincing 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) win against Nemec and Petruf in their semifinal, then followed it with another 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) triumph over their 11th-seeded countrymen, Waber and Jezek, in the gold medal final.
Waber and Jezek mirrored their silver medal performance from the previous year`s Brno Futures, adding a second podium finish to their Beach Pro Tour career. Their semifinal match saw them earn a hard-fought 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-12) victory against Breer and Fluckiger.
A total of 28 women`s and 28 men`s pairs, representing 21 different national federations, competed in the Brno Futures event.
Future events are scheduled for Budapest, Hungary, and Warsaw, Poland, from September 4 to 7.
Oliver Wrenwick 
Finley Blackwood