Lausanne, Switzerland, August 4, 2020 - After a 136-day break, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour resumed play this past weekend in Ljubljana, Slovenia with teams from Denmark and Italy topping the podium in the 13th event on the 2019-2020 international beach volleyball calendar. The next events on the World Tour are scheduled to take place in Baden, Austria (August 20-23) and Montpellier, France (August 25-29).
Clara Windeleft (left) and Line Hansen win first Danish women's FIVB gold medal
After Hansen and Windeleff defeated compatriots Sofia Bisgaard and Cecilie Olsen in the two-set women's gold medal match, Italians Andrea Abbiati and Tiziano Andreatta upset top-seeded Austrians Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst in the three-set men's finale.
The win for Hansen and Windeleff was accomplished in their first-ever FIVB event together as the Danish pair became the eighth women’s team to top a World Tour podium in their inaugural appearance together on the international circuit.
Abbiati and Andreatta reached the top of a World Tour podium for the first time in 18 FIVB appearances together. The Italians, who placed fifth in their last FIVB event at the end of February in Cambodia, placed third in a World Tour event in March 2018 at Muscat, Oman.
Here are the results for this past weekend's event as Ljubljana hosted its fourth FIVB World Tour event.
Slovenia, Ljubljana, July 30-August 2, 2020, €5,000, FIVB women's event No. 429
1. Line Hansen/Clara Windeleff, Denmark, €1,000
2. Sofia Bisgaard/Cecilie Olsen, Denmark, €700
3. Sarah Cools/Lisa Van Den Vonder, Belgium, €500
4. Varvara Brailko/Anete Namike, Latvia, €400
Gold - Hansen/Windeleff def. Bisgaard /Olsen, 2-0 (21-11, 21-10) (32 minutes)
Bronze - Cools/Van Den Vonder def. Brailko/Namike, 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) (34)
Slovenia, Ljubljana, July 30-August 2, 2020, €5,000, FIVB men's event No. 469
1. Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta, Italy, €1,000
2. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria, €700
3. Christoph Dressler/Alexander Huber, Austria, €500
4. Tadej Bozenk/Vid Jakopin, Slovenia, €400
Gold - Abbiati/Andreatta def. Doppler/Horst, 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-11) (53)
Bronze - Dressler/Huber def. Bozenk/Jakopin, 2-1 (22-24, 21-10, 15-8) (48)
The 2020 Ljubljana podium featured teams from Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Italy
After a two-week break, the FIVB World Tour resumes with back-to-back events in Austria and France. The Austrian event will be August 20-23 in Baden where Doppler and Horst have won the last two men's event in the iconic resort city outside of Vienna.
A new Baden's women's champion will be crowned as host country favourite Katharina Schützenhöfer is still recovering from injury and her partner Lena Plesiutschnig will play with Dorina Klinger. Schützenhöfer and Plesiutschnig placed second in the 2018 Baden event after losing to Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann of Germany in the finals.
Katharina Schützenhöfer (left) and Lena Plesiutschnig of Austria
The French event in Montpellier will be held from August 25-29 and is a men's event only. Located 10km inland from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Montpellier will be hosting a World Tour event for the fourth time.