Czechia’s Oliva & Kurka and Germany’s Christ & Grune claim first Tour gold medals at Nuvali Futures
- Philippines’ James Buytrago & Rancel Varga take home silver at Nuvali Futures with FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support
- Teams from Czechia and Latvia earn men’s gold and bronze in Santa Rosa
- Germany, USA and Japan line up on the women’s podium
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries James Buytrago & Rancel Varga of the Philippines claimed the pair’s first-ever Beach Pro Tour medal by finishing runners-up at last week’s Nuvali Futures on home sand in Santa Rosa. The duo from Czechia, Krystof Jan Oliva & Vaclav Kurka topped the men’s podium to celebrate the team’s first gold, while Latvian pair Toms Liepa & Ernests Puskundzis took bronze and also made it to their first podium on the Tour.
In the women’s competition, the first Beach Pro Tour gold was claimed by Chenoa Christ & Anna-Lena Grune of Germany, who are also about to receive FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support. The USA’s Alaina Chacon & Mariah Whalen made their third podium in a row, settling for a second consecutive silver. Riko Tsujimura & Takemi Nishibori of Japan completed the podium for their first Tour medal, both as a team and individually.
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The Philippine National Volleyball Federation has so far received a total of CHF 436,500 worth of Volleyball Empowerment assistance, a large share of which went to its beach volleyball programme, for both coach support for their national teams and beach equipment.
Trained by Brazilian coach Joao Luciano Kiodai, hired in December 2022 through a Volleyball Empowerment coach support grant, James Buytrago & Rancel Varga, seeded fourth in the Nuvali main draw. They delighted the home crowd in Santa Rosa with a four-game winning streak, crowned by a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) sweep of their semi-final against Liepa & Puskundzis, that led them to the trophy match against Oliva & Kurka. Despite allowing the team from Czechia a 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 13-15) comeback, the 24-year-old pair from the Philippines celebrated a historic success at their second appearance on the Tour as a team. Just four and a half months ago, Buytrago & Varga tested their luck at the Nuvali Challenge, but were knocked in the qualifiers.
19-year-old Oliva and 20-year-old Kurka started the tournament in the Philippines as the top-seeded team in Thursday’s qualifications and, after making their way into the…
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