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The No. 1 seed from Norway made it to the final of the Swatch Gstaad Beach Pro once again. They did it by winning three games today and they really had to work for it in the quarterfinal over three spectacular sets against fan favorites Cherif/Ahmed (QAT). They didn’t have it easy in the semifinal either, needing three sets to beat the highly rated Polish duo of Bryl/Losiak. Mol/Sorum will be facing the Americans Benesh/Partain, who made it to their first Gstaad final. The US boys have only lost a single set all tournament, against tomorrow’s opponents in the very first game – a game, they ended up winning in three sets. 
Bryl/Losiak (POL) will face George/Andre (BRA) for the Bronze medal.

Müller/Tillmann surprise

The German duo Müller/Tillmann had to battle through qualification to the main draw. They haven’t looked back since. First, they directly qualified for the quarterfinal by winning their group. Then, they beat the experienced Brazilians Carol/Barbara in three sets: “We fought for every ball against a strong team. Now we try to carry this energy forward into the semifinal”, said an exhausted, but happy Cinja Tillmann. The women will start tomorrow’s final day with their semi-final match-ups before the fight for the cowbell is well and truly on in the afternoon.

Krattiger/Breer bow out

The final, remaining Swiss duo, Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer, entertained the home fans one last time this morning. They battled hard against Pedro Solberg/Guto, were close to winning the match in the second set, but had to watch the Brazilians celebrate their quarterfinal berth in the end. The Swiss duo couldn’t hide their disappointment: “We had a great week in this amazing atmosphere, but it’s a tough one to take right now.”

The atmosphere in the “Gstaadion” reached a first boiling point Friday morning: Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer managed to secure their first win in dramatic fashion against Herrera/Gavira (ESP). It was enough to secure them a place in the “Round of 12”, even though they lost their second game against Ehlers/Wickler of Germany. “This morning’s atmosphere was unbelievable”, said Marco Krattiger after the second game. 
Otherwise in the men’s draw, tournament favorites like Mol/Sorum, Cherif/Ahmed or Ranghieri/Carambula did the job in the round robin to set up an exciting Saturday. 

Disappointment for home fans on the women’s side

No Swiss women’s duo will still be playing on Saturday unfortunately. Hüberli/Brunner didn’t play their best game and lost to Gottardi/Menegatti in straight sets. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t show our home fans what we’re capable of”, a disappointed Nina Brunner explained after the tough loss. The same fate awaited their compatriots Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Mäder. They bowed out in a tight and tough match against the experienced duo of Melissa/Brandie (CAN). 

Never was the stadium louder than during the last game of the day between Esmée Boebner/Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Stam/Schoon (NED). On the brink of a loss, the young Swiss team pulled themselves together midway through the second set and pulled off an amazing comeback from 8 points down to win the second set. The crowd was on its feet and going crazy. In the end, the experience of the Dutch duo showed and they pulled through in the end. Esmée Boebner credited the crowd for their spirited performance: “We just wanted to enjoy it and how the crowd reacted to us will help us get over this tough loss.”
Interesting fact on the women’s side: all the four qualifiers are still in the tournament after the round robin. They join favorites like last year’s champions Ana Patrica/Duda or the Aussies Mariafe/Clancy, who have yet again showed their best side in Gstaad.

The Swatch Beach Pro Gstaad got under way this Wednesday with the qualification round. 32 teams gave their all to grab one of the remaining spots in the main draw. Of the three Swiss teams in the qualification draw, none managed to fight their way into the remainder of the tournament. Bentele/Lutz on the women’s side and Heidrich/Dillier on the men’s side both lost in the first round in straight sets. Métral/Haussener won their first game in straight sets, but bowed out in the 2^ndround against Sepka/Semerad (CZE). 

Tomorrow promises to be a brighter day for the home fans in Gstaad. Esmée Boebner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré will kick things off on Centre Court in the morning against Hughes/Cheng (USA). Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner will follow right after, facing the Brazilian duo of Carol and Barbara. The Swiss morning will end with Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Mäder, who will face off against last year’s Bronze medal winners Mariafe/Clancy (AUS). All three Swiss women’s duos will play again in the early evening. Sandwiched in between the women’s games, the sole Swiss men’s team of Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer will take the court to kick off their tournament against the Italian duo of Ranghieri/Carambula.

The Swatch Beach Pro Gstaad got under way this Wednesday with the qualification round. 32 teams gave their all to grab one of the remaining spots in the main draw. Of the three Swiss teams in the qualification draw, none managed to fight their way into the remainder of the tournament. Bentele/Lutz on the women’s side and Heidrich/Dillier on the men’s side both lost in the first round in straight sets. Métral/Haussener won their first game in straight sets, but bowed out in the 2^ndround against Sepka/Semerad (CZE). 

Tomorrow promises to be a brighter day for the home fans in Gstaad. Esmée Boebner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré will kick things off on Centre Court in the morning against Hughes/Cheng (USA). Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner will follow right after, facing the Brazilian duo of Carol and Barbara. The Swiss morning will end with Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Mäder, who will face off against last year’s Bronze medal winners Mariafe/Clancy (AUS). All three Swiss women’s duos will play again in the early evening. Sandwiched in between the women’s games, the sole Swiss men’s team of Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer will take the court to kick off their tournament against the Italian duo of Ranghieri/Carambula.

At this year's Swatch Beach Pro Gstaad there are some novelties we would like to introduce:

In 3.5 weeks the Swatch Beach Pro Gstaad will start! Last week the construction for the tournament has started.

Here are some impressions of the first construction works:

At the Beach Pro Elite 16 tournament in Ostrava, the two Swiss women's teams Brunner/Hüberli (4th place) and Vergé-Dépré/Mäder (5th place) showed top performances. The tournament was won by Ana Patrícia/Duda from Brazil in the women's competition and by the Norwegian duo Mol/Sørum in the men's competition.

The tournament in the Czech city of Ostrava was the last of the Beach Pro Elite 16 Tour before the Swatch Beach Pro in Gstaad. In less than a month, the beach volleyball spectacle gets underway in the picturesque mountains of Gstaad.

The match schedule has been fixed in the last few weeks. The men's and women's finals will now take place on Sunday. We are looking forward to another spectacular beach volleyball tournament.
 

Newcomer Andryy (SRF Best Talent) will perform in the Beach Village on Thursday, 6 July 2023. The Winterthur native delights with his contemporary sounds and Swiss-German lyrics.

Next year's Swatch Beach Gstaad will continue to be one of the world's top Elite 16 tournaments. In addition to the 12 top-ranked teams in the world rankings, 16 other teams will be competing for the remaining 4 starting places in the main draw. Thus, starting from the qualifying Wednesday, a total of 56 teams and at least 3 Swiss teams per gender will be seen. The Pool Play matches will take place on Thursday and Friday, followed by the quarter- and semi-finals on Saturday and the small and grand finals on Sunday.

The womens teams representing Canada seem to have adjusted well to Gstaad: Brandie / Bukovec demonstrated an outstanding performance against Barbara / Carol (BRA). Both Brandie / Bukovec persevered through a thrilling and hard-earned match of two sets. With this the Canadians have not lost a single set.  Pavan / Melissa also gave it their all to create a day, that Canadians can be proud of. The last years bronze-medalists emerged victorious, winning two sets in a row against Borger / Sude (GER). Similarly, the current world champions Duda / Ana Patricia (BRA), stand undefeated after two exciting games.

All Wednesday morning, volleyballs have been flying through the mountain range of Gstaad oncemore. The first Swiss men’s team Métral / Haussener entered center court with much enthusiasm as they faced their first opponents, the Olympic goldmedalists and worldchampions A. Mol / Ch. Sorum (NOR). Throughout the match, the Swiss team delivered a spirited performance, however, unfortunately had to accept defeat in the two sets that they played.
 

Similarly, the top-seeded team Cherif / Ahmed (QAT), experienced a great start to the tournament and won against the Swiss team Heidrich / Dillier, with distinction.

Finally, the local pair Krattiger / Breer, entered the game with high hopes and determination against Sepka / Semerad (CZE). After two exhilarating sets the fans in the «Gstaadion» were able to celebrate the first swiss win of this tournament.

On Saturday and Sunday, the first Swatch Mixed Tournament in the history of the Beach Volleyball Gstaad will take place.
Action and fun are guaranteed. You can find more information here.

In the highest tournament category "Elite", only the best 16 teams of the world ranking list are generally admitted per gender. In Gstaad, however, there is an exception. In favour of the promotion of young Swiss players, the organising committee, together with Swiss Volley and in consultation with Volleyball World, has decided for a tableau of 32 teams.

Now it's official: this is the name of the legendary beach volleyball tournament in Gstaad. With the new name, the traditional constant in the international tournament calendar also gets a new logo. With this reform, the international federation FIVB has once again modernised the series: The new Pro Tour replaces the World Tour. The Swatch Beach Pro Gstaad will take place from 6 to 10 July as a tournament in the highest category, Elite16.

The website will also receive a new look in the next few days.