Titles go to Slovakia and the Czech Republic
From July 23rd to 26th, Kranj hosted Zavarovalnica Sava Championship 2025 – a MEVZA Zonal Tour event. Nearly 100 teams from 7 countries (Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Czechia, Israel, Hungary, and Austria) registered and the competition was so evenly matched that we saw nearly half of the matches go to three sets. After four days of amazing volleyball, we crowned the new Middle European Champions. On the men’s side, Matyáš Ježek of the Czech Republic successfully defended his 2024 title with his new partner Martin Melmuka, while on the women’s side Slovaks Barbora Tokosova and Martina Terenova defeated several higher seeded teams to claim their first MEVZA tournament. Once again, the Czech Republic was the most successful, winning three medals (women’s silver, men’s gold, and men’s bronze), while Slovenia, Austria, and Slovakia won one medal each.
Kranj hosted its traditional summer beach volleyball tournament for the third consecutive year under the umbrella of the Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA). A record number of teams from Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, and Israel registered to compete for the Middle European Championship title.
Tournament director Sašo Rop commented: “We were very excited about the record number of entries and the quality did not disappoint. The teams played at an exceptionally high level and so many matches were so tight, we couldn’t believe it. For example, we saw several sets go over 30 points and nearly half of the matches went to three sets. The new location at športni park Stražišče also proved to be the right choice, providing players with three warmup courts right next to the main court. We were pleasantly surprised by the crowd that turned up on the final day, proving we have a loyal following of beach volleyball fans no matter the location. We were of course unfortunate with a storm forcing us to stop play during the men’s finals, but in the end we were just relieved to be able to complete the match after an hour of interruption. With this team and this crowd, we are confident we are on the right track to organizing World Series tournaments in Kranj in the future.”
On the women’s side, we didn’t see many surprises up until the semifinals, where the winners were not only lower seeded but also playing against Slovenian teams, supported by the home crowd. Fifth-seeded Slovaks Barbora Tokosova and Martina Terenova defeated third-seeded Slovenians Živa Javornik and Tajda Lovšin with 2:1 (17, -9, 13), while fourth-seeded Czechs Veronika Kleiblova and Miroslava Dunarova outplayed first-seeded Slovenians Tjaša Kotnik and Maja Marolt with 2:1 (-22, 20, 9).
The bronze medal match was thus set up between two home crowd favourites and former teammates, but it was the tournament’s top seeds, Tjaša Kotnik and Maja Marolt, who showed slightly more composure and claimed the bronze medal. Although the final score was 2:0, the match was extremely tight, with the second set extending all the way to 31:29. Tjaša Kotnik commented on their performance: “We’re very happy with the victory. There is still some disappointment about the semifinal match, where we had a match point at 20:19 in the second set, but then lost the game. At the same time, I’m proud that we were able to bounce back after that loss, come back to the court, and win the bronze medal in a tough match against Živa Javornik and Tajda Lovšin.” Her teammate Maja Marolt added: “It was great to play here, the fans were amazing, and the organizers did a great job preparing the tournament. We’re very happy and grateful!”
The final was played between Barbora Tokosova and Martina Terenova of Slovakia and Veronika Kleiblova and Miroslava Dunarova of the Czech Republic. Dunarova had already won silver in Kranj in 2023 with Resova, but despite a new partner and a very solid performance did not manage to improve her result this year. The Slovak duo Tokosova/Terenova were simply too strong in their blocking and defensive game, while also being the best team in the tournament when it came to performance in clutch points. While the first set was tight, the second one was more one-sided and the final score was 2:0 (24, 16) for the new Middle European Beach Volleyball Champions, Barbora Tokosova and Martina Terenova. After their first victory at a MEVZA Zonal Tour event, Tokosova and Terenova commented: “We are super excited to have won this match. This is our second MEVZA tournament after Innsbruck, where we ended up fifth. We are really happy because we lost the first match in our group but then improved our game and got better and better every match. We are incredibly happy to have won gold in the end.”
The men’s part of the tournament saw a few more complications. Due to an injury to the Czech semifinalists Dumek/Westphal, one semifinal match and the third-place game were canceled. Additionally, the final was interrupted for more than an hour due to a thunderstorm. In the challenging conditions of the final match, the Czech duo Melmuka/Ježek handled things better and defeated the Austrian team Kunert/Petutschnig with 2:0 (17, 17).
Matyáš Ježek had already won the title of Middle European Champion in Kranj last year and, despite switching partners to Martin Melmuka, successfully defended the title. He accompanied his new gold medal with the following words: “We are incredibly happy that we managed to win the final in these demanding conditions. Congratulations also go to the Austrian pair for their performance and the silver medal. I can’t describe my feelings – it’s something incredible. The whole event was top-notch, and I would like to thank the local fans who stayed and supported us despite the rain.”
Due to the injury of the Dumek/Westphal team, the bronze medal was automatically awarded to the Czechs Oliva/Kurka.
