Austrian teenagers Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer captured their first Beach Pro Tour gold at the Leuven Futures, dominating the women’s division. They were joined on the podium by Belgium’s Youna Coens & Sarah Cools (silver) and Dutch team Lisa Luini & Desy Poiesz (bronze).
Berger (17) and Hohenauer (18), reigning U18 European champions, overcame an early pool stage loss to top-seeded Peru to go on a four-match winning streak. They sealed their title with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Coens & Cools in the final.
In the semis, the Austrians beat another Belgian team, Ruysschaert & Van den Broeck, 2-0 (21-15, 21-15), while Coens & Cools advanced with a 2-0 win over Luini & Poiesz. The Dutch pair later secured bronze with a 2-0 win in the third-place match.
In the men’s competition, top-seeded Belgian brothers Louis & Gilles Vandecaveye continued their winning streak, taking gold after a 2-1 comeback (19-21, 21-16, 15-12) against fellow Belgians and U21 world champs Kyan Vercauteren & Joppe Van Langendonck.
Vercauteren & Van Langendonck had reached the final with a 2-1 victory over Poland’s Piotr Kantor & Artem Besarab. The Vandecaveyes secured their final spot by edging out Czech duo Waber & Jezek in straight sets. Kantor & Besarab went on to claim bronze with a tight 2-0 (21-17, 23-21) win.
The tournament featured 27 women’s and 28 men’s teams from 24 countries. Next stops on the Beach Pro Tour: Tallinn (Aug 13–16) and Busan Gwangalli (Aug 14–17).
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