New champions emerged at the 2025 Balikesir Futures as Hungary’s Stefania Kun and Lilla Villam, along with Türkiye’s Yusuf Ozdemir and Batuhan Kuru, each clinched their first-ever gold medals on the Beach Pro Tour.
Women’s Finals: Kun and Villam Dominate
Hungarian pair Kun and Villam, seeded third, remained undefeated across five matches. Their stellar performance peaked in a straight-set final victory (21-18, 21-18) against Czechia’s Anna Pospisilova and Michaela Brinkova. Finland’s duo of Sara Sinisalo and Anniina Muukka took home bronze after narrowly defeating Germany’s Sophia Neuss and Mareet Maidhof with set scores of 21-19, 27-25.
Men’s Showdown: Ozdemir and Kuru Prevail at Home
Türkiye’s Ozdemir and Kuru delivered a compelling campaign that featured five demanding tie-breakers. Fueled by the home crowd, they made a thrilling comeback in the final by reversing a first-set deficit to defeat Latvia’s Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics (17-21, 21-14, 16-14). Ukraine’s Oleksii Bublyk and Ivan Datsiuk secured third place with a decisive 21-18, 21-9 victory over Latvia’s Olivers Bulgacs and Markuss Graudins.
Event Highlights
- Unbeaten women’s gold medal run by Kun/Villam
- Five tie-breaker matches won by Ozdemir/Kuru
- 21 countries represented in 50 total teams (23 women’s, 27 men’s)
What’s Next?
The next stop on the Beach Pro Tour calendar is Pompano Beach, USA, scheduled for December 4–7.
For more details, visit the official event page on Volleyball World.
