Two Swedish men\u2019s pairs will contest for the gold medal in the final match of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in Adelaide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paris Olympic champions David Ahman-Jonatan Hellvig will take on Jacob Holting Nilsson-Elmer Andersson in the final, only the second country in history to have two teams playing against one another in a World Championship final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only Brazil has achieved such an exploit in the past, once in each gender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the semifinal, third-seeded Ahman-Hellvig defeated 14th-seeded Germans Nils Ehlers-Clemens Wickler, who will get another chance to earn a spot on the podium as they take on France\u2019s Teo Rotar-Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in the bronze medal playoff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only was the semifinal a remake of last year\u2019s Paris 2024 Olympic final, but it also produced almost the same result,\u00a021-10, 21-14\u00a0the way of Ahman-Hellvig, with Ehlers-Wickler scoring just a point more in the second set than they did at the Games in France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this win, the Swedish jump-setters became the first men\u2019s duo in history to qualify for two consecutive World Championship finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahman topped the scoring chart with two aces and 16 spike kills, while Hellvig put up four kill blocks towards a 16-point match tally. Ehlers also delivered 16 points for Germany, including two blocks and an ace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt feels amazing! We went into this championship not really knowing how good we were, because we\u2019d had some injury problems this season and hadn\u2019t practiced that much, but I think we played better and better in every match at this tournament, so we are super happy that we made it to the final,\u201d said Hellvig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible!\u201d Ahman commented on the fact that an all-Swedish final shaped up. \u201cWe never thought that before this tournament. Sweden is not really famous for beach volleyball, so it\u2019s just incredible that we have two teams in the final of the World Champs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, Jacob Nilsson-Andersson made history in their first appearance at the Beach Volleyball World Championship, becoming the youngest team ever to earn the right to play for the tournament\u2019s gold medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aged 20 and 19 respectively, they delivered a dominant performance, taking down French Rotar-Gauthier-Rat\u00a021-18, 21-17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nilsson-Andersson\u2019s success in the biggest event of the sport in 2025 is just a reflection of the incredible season the young Swedes are having at the international level. One of the youngest duos to compete at the highest level of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, they have been able to gradually raise their standards throughout the season, having won a Futures event in their home sand Malm\u00f6 in June, triumphed in a Challenge tournament in Baden in August and taken gold at the Cape Town Elite last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Ahman-Hellvig took silver at the previous World Championship in Mexico two years ago, for their younger compatriots Nilsson-Andersson, this is the first time playing in the premier competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two teams practice together with the same coaching staff, but they have already met three times in international competition, all earlier in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahman-Hellvig shut out their compatriots in the first two encounters \u2013 at the Warmia Mazury Challenge and at the Montreal Elite, while Nilsson-Andersson pulled off a three-set win the last time they met, in the Montreal Elite semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy season for us,\u201d Andersson reflected after the semifinal. \u201cWe played many Beach Pro Tour tournaments, and our main goal was to qualify for the World Championship. Coming here, everything was a bonus for us and we\u2019re just enjoying everything we do in Adelaide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
H\u00f6lting Nilsson\u2019s excellent all-around performance made a difference for the Swedish team in the semifinals, as the 20-year-old registered 22 points, with 13 kills, six blocks and three aces. Andersson scored with ten kills and an ace, and also produced 12 digs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Latvia\u2019s Tina Graudina-Anastasija Samoilova will face USA\u2019s Kristen Nuss-Taryn Brasher in the women\u2019s final, both chasing their first title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-seeded Carol Solberg-Rebecca Cavalcanti will battle for their spot on the podium in an all-Brazilian bronze medal playoff against top-seeded Thamela Coradello-Victoria Lopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American pair, however, has already been on a World Championship podium, at the previous edition Tlaxcala 2023, when they claimed bronze. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two teams have met six times on the Beach Pro Tour, four of them at the Gstaad Elite16 \u2013 once in 2022, twice in 2024 and once in 2025. They also met at the 2022 Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha and at the 2023 Ostrava Elite16. Nuss & Brasher won the last five of these encounters in straight sets, while Tina & Anastasija beat the Americans in three sets in a Gstaad 2022 quarterfinal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graudina-Samoilova booked the first spot in the final with an emphatic shutout of the world\u2019s number one ranked team, top-seeded Brazilians Coradello-Lopes, and secured Latvia\u2019s first ever World Championship podium in either gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by a loyal Latvian crowd on the stands around center court in Adelaide, Tina-Anastasija dominated the game and celebrated a\u00a021-10, 21-16\u00a0victory over Thamela- Victoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tina raised a total of six kill blocks and added an ace towards a match-high 20 points. Anastasija also delivered an ace and tallied a total of 11 points. Thamela led the Brazilian team with 12 points, also including an ace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose who follow us know that we\u2019ve been in a lot of semifinals recently and have gone fourth place. So, this match was perhaps even the most important match of this whole tournament so far and we came in mentally strong,\u201d said Tina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have a great team! I am so grateful for our journey with Tina. We are so lucky!\u201d Anastasija added. \u201cWe are so hard-working and we have the back-up of the whole Latvian family \u2013 everyone, who cheers for us around the world! You cannot imagine! We are so grateful for everyone and also so grateful for ourselves, that we have each other.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second semifinal, the third-seeded Americans Nus & Brasher mounted a solid comeback from a set down against Carol-Rebecca to earn a\u00a019-21, 24-22, 15-6\u00a0victory and qualify for their first World Championship final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unforced errors made the big difference in this match. The North Americans made only five of those against as many as 23 from the South Americans. Brasher led the US duo with a team-high 19 points, including four kill blocks and an ace, while Nuss added another 16 points, all in swings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With so few mistakes from their opponents, the Brazilians were made to work for their points and both of them reached 20+, outscoring Nuss-Brasher. With five aces and two kill blocks to her name, Carol topped the chart with a total of 23 points. Rebecca delivered two aces towards a 21-point match tally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, my goodness! So much goes into it! A huge credit to our entire USA support staff this entire week! Also, huge shoutout to Drew Hamilton, our coach back at home! We\u2019d not be here without him and I hope he\u2019s ready for some Waffle House, when we get back home,\u201d said Nuss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAustralia means so much to us. It was the first time that we got the opportunity to play together internationally, and it was so important to both of us. It\u2019s probably one of my favorite memories,\u201d added Brasher, referring to their 2022 Coolangatta Futures gold upon their Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Swedish men\u2019s pairs will contest for the gold medal in the final match of the FIVB Beach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[118],"class_list":["post-6401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-beach-volleyball"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t