Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig retained their European beach volleyball title in Vienna ©Euro Beach Volley

David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig successfully defended their men’s title at the European Beach Volleyball Championships in Vienna, while the women’s gold went to Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner.

Playing for a first time in the Red Bull Beach Arena at the Danube Island, the two 21-year-old Swedes dominated Dutch temporary partners Leon Luini and Yorick de Groot to earn a 21-16, 21-18 win.

"Every match in this tournament was hard, but this was the last one, so we only gave everything we had and went for it," Hellvig said.

"It’s incredible to win the EuroBeachVolley again.

"Although we came here with higher expectations after winning it last year, I had an injury a couple of months ago and we didn’t get to play in the weeks leading up to the event, so we didn’t really know what to expect.

"I’m very happy with what we were able to show."

The Swedes became the sixth men’s team in 31 years of EuroBeachVolley history to win back-to-back editions of the tournament.

With two continental titles and also three Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour victories under their belts, Åhman and Hellvig are quickly establishing themselves as one of the top teams in the world.

De Groot, who also took silver in Vienna at the 2021 EuroBeachVolley, and Luini had joined up just a few days before the start of the tournament.

The two, who are originally defenders and joined forces due to injuries to their original partners, made the most of their individual skills to win some big matches.

Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner won the women's title at the European Beach Volleyball Championships in Vienna ©Euro Beach Volley
Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner won the women's title at the European Beach Volleyball Championships in Vienna ©Euro Beach Volley

"We really didn’t expect we would be able to make it so far," said De Groot.

"We only found out we would be playing together on Sunday evening and only got to practice once, here in Vienna already."

In the bronze medal match Sergiy Popov, on his 32nd birthday, secured Ukraine’s first medal in this event as he and Eduard Reznik earned a 22-20, 21-13 victory over Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava.

The Swiss women’s pairing of Hüberli and Brunner were dominant in their final against Spanish up-and-comers Tania Moreno and Daniela Álvarez, winning 21-12, 21-13.

Germans Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann earned bronze after defeating Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland 21-14, 18-21, 15-11.