At the recent Montreal Elite Beach Pro Tour event, Norwegian duo Anders Mol and Christian Sorum clinched the men`s gold medal, showcasing the benefits of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coaching support. Similarly, Germany`s Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann secured the women`s silver medal, also having received support from the same program. Completing the men`s podium were Sweden`s Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, alongside Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner from Czechia. In the women`s competition, local favorites Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson thrilled the Canadian audience by winning the gold, with Brazil`s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) earning the bronze.
The Norwegian national federation, Norges Volleyballforbund, has received substantial support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, including USD 252,000 for their national beach volleyball teams` coaching, with Jetmund Bernsten leading the men`s duos, and an additional USD 6,000 for a coaching development program. The world`s top-ranked team, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, faced a challenging pool stage in Montreal, navigating three tie-breakers and winning two. However, they demonstrated their dominance in the elimination rounds by not dropping a single set. The `Beachvolley Vikings` secured a decisive 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) victory against current world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia in the semifinals. They then went on to sweep the final 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) against Sweden`s Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, marking their second Elite gold of 2025 and extending their remarkable Beach Pro Tour record to 24 medals, including 13 gold.
The 10th-seeded Swedish team of Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson achieved their third consecutive Beach Pro Tour podium finish. This was largely due to their surprising 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 18-16) semifinal victory over their highly-regarded compatriots and second-seeded reigning Olympic champions, David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig. Their impressive performance brought their total Tour medal count to eight.
World champions Perusic and Schweiner, seeded fifth, claimed the bronze medal in a thrilling 2-1 (14-21, 22-20, 20-18) comeback win against the Olympic champions. This hard-fought victory increased the celebrated Czech pair`s Beach Pro Tour podium appearances to 11.
The German Volleyball Federation`s beach volleyball program has benefited from USD 168,000 in coaching support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, with national teams training under the guidance of former European champion and two-time Olympian Christoph Dieckmann. Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann, the world`s second-ranked team and seventh seeds in Montreal, advanced to the semifinals undefeated. Although they faced a tough challenge in their semifinal match against second-seeded Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, they secured a 2-1 (15-21, 21-18, 15-10) win, extending their winning streak. This set the stage for a gold medal match against the fourth-seeded Canadian duo, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson. The Canadian pair, who are also Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists, ultimately defeated Muller and Tillmann 2-0 (21-15, 22-20), leaving the Germans with their seventh Beach Pro Tour silver medal.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson concluded the tournament undefeated, losing only two sets across six matches. In a rematch of the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medal game, the Canadian pair triumphed over Brazil`s eighth-seeded Ana Patricia and Duda in the semifinals with a 2-0 (21-11, 22-20) victory. As a team, Melissa and Brandie have now accumulated three gold medals and six overall medals on the Beach Pro Tour.
Reigning Olympic champions Ana Patricia and Duda made their first Beach Pro Tour appearance since April, where they previously earned a Brasilia Elite bronze. Following their semifinal loss to the Canadian home team, the former world`s top-ranked duo rebounded strongly. They secured a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) victory against Tina and Anastasija in the third-place match, claiming their second consecutive bronze medal and their 10th overall Tour medal as a team.
The Montreal Elite tournament saw participation from 27 men`s teams and 28 women`s teams, representing a total of 21 nations.
The next Elite-level event on the Beach Pro Tour circuit is scheduled to be held in Hamburg, Germany, from August 27 to 31.
