Teams receiving support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program showcased exceptional performance at the Brno Futures on the Beach Pro Tour, securing all women`s podium spots and the men`s bronze medal. Czech Republic`s Valerie Dvornikova and Michaela Brinkova clinched gold, while France`s Elsa Descamps and Anouk Dupin earned silver, and Estonia`s Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg took home bronze. On the men`s side, Switzerland`s Florian Breer and Luc Fluckiger also secured a bronze medal. The local crowd in Brno was treated to an all-Czech men`s final, where Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak triumphed over Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek.
Impact of FIVB Empowerment Program
The success of these nations highlights the direct impact of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment initiative. The Czech Volleyball Federation has received $168,000 in coach support for their women`s beach volleyball teams, benefiting from the expertise of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo, alongside an additional $24,000 for national team coach development. France`s beach volleyball program has been allocated a substantial $1,077,000 in coach support, with their women`s national pairs training under Paris 2024 Olympian Youssef Krou. The French Federation also received $5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. Similarly, the Estonian Volleyball Federation`s beach volleyball department has been granted $168,000 in coach support for their national teams, currently guided by Beijing 2008 Olympian Rivo Vesik, and $11,500 in equipment.
Women`s Tournament Highlights
In the women`s competition at Brno, Czech duo Valerie Dvornikova (22) and Michaela Brinkova (23) celebrated their inaugural Beach Pro Tour gold medal. Both athletes had previously achieved one podium finish with different partners. As the 11th seeds in the main draw, they completed an unbeaten run of five consecutive wins to claim the championship. Their journey to the final included a hard-fought 2-1 (15-21, 21-19, 16-14) victory in an all-Czech semifinal against fifth-seeded Anna Pospisilova and Daniela Mokra. The final match also proved to be a grueling three-setter, with Dvornikova and Brinkova mounting a comeback to win 2-1 (27-29, 21-12, 15-12) against France`s Elsa Descamps and Anouk Dupin.
Anouk Dupin, 22, continued her impressive streak of podium finishes at every Beach Pro Tour event this year. Her 2025 medal collection already boasts two golds, three silvers, and a bronze from six Futures tournaments with various partners, in addition to a bronze from 2023. This silver medal marked her second consecutive podium alongside Elsa Descamps, following their silver at the Montpellier Futures last month. For Descamps, this was her fourth career podium finish on the Beach Pro Tour. The second-seeded French pair reached the Brno final with a four-match winning streak, culminating in a narrow 2-1 (21-12, 19-21, 17-15) semifinal triumph over Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg.
The fourth-seeded Estonians, Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg, bounced back from their semifinal loss to secure bronze. They swept the third-place match against Pospisilova and Mokra with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) victory, concluding their tournament with a 4-1 win-loss record and adding an eighth Beach Pro Tour medal to their collection.
Men`s Tournament Highlights
On the men`s side, Swiss Volley`s beach volleyball department has benefited from $366,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. This funding enables their national men`s teams to train under the guidance of coach Philip Gabathuler.
In Brno, Switzerland`s eighth-seeded Florian Breer and Luc Fluckiger earned their second Beach Pro Tour medal together, building on their silver from the Geneva Futures in June. After a tough semifinal defeat to Czechia`s Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek, they recovered to claim a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-13) victory over ninth-seeded Lubos Nemec and Adrian Petruf of Slovakia in the bronze medal match.
The top-seeded Czech pair, Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak, dominated the men`s tournament in Brno, winning all five of their matches without dropping a single set. This secured their second gold medal and third overall on the Beach Pro Tour. They dispatched Nemec and Petruf with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) sweep in their semifinal, followed by a commanding 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) victory over their 11th-seeded compatriots Waber and Jezek in the gold medal showdown.
Adam Waber and Matyas Jezek mirrored their silver medal performance from last year`s Brno Futures, adding a second podium finish to their Beach Pro Tour history. Their semifinal journey included a challenging 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-12) win against Breer and Fluckiger.
The Brno Futures competition featured 28 women`s and 28 men`s duos, representing 21 different federations, highlighting the event`s international appeal.
Upcoming Futures events are scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, and Warsaw, Poland, from September 4 to 7.
