Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler delivered a major upset at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Gstaad by defeating the world’s top-ranked duo, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum, to advance to the quarterfinals.
The German team secured the win in straight sets, 23-21, 21-16, in what was only their second victory in nine attempts against the Norwegian Olympic champions. Their only other win over the Norwegians came recently during the Paris 2024 Olympic semifinals.
Earlier in the day, Ehlers and Wickler began their impressive run with another straight-set win over Norway’s Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen. Their performance in Gstaad now stands as their most successful showing in the 2025 season, guaranteeing them at least a fifth-place finish.
In the quarterfinals, the German pair will meet Dutch competitors Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, who battled past Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan in a tough three-set clash.
Other Quarterfinalists
- Mol and Sørum remain in contention as one of the top-performing teams from the losing side. They will next face Brazil’s André Loyola and George Wanderley, who earned their spot with wins over Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
- Swedish newcomers Jacob Hölting Nilsson (20) and Elmer Andersson (19) continued their Cinderella run by reaching the Elite16 quarterfinals for the first time, eliminating Latvian and Swiss opponents in the process. They are set to face Brazil’s Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci.
- The final quarterfinal match features seasoned Dutch stars Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde against Cherif and Ahmed, who advanced as one of the best-performing teams from the Round of 12 despite a loss.
Quarterfinal and semifinal matches will take place on Saturday, with medal rounds scheduled for Sunday in the scenic alpine town of Gstaad.
For more details, visit the official article on VolleyballWorld.com.
