12 Aug 2024
Wales and the South West top the podium at the Beach Small Nations tournament in Cardiff
The weekend saw 16 men's and 14 women’s teams travel to the Cardiff Beach Volleyball Club to take part in the Small Nations competition.
Two days of matches saw two pairs from each represented nation or region compete in a best of three match set up with a golden set option to decide the winner.
The pairs of Lucas Rijvers and Euan Tuck and Joesph Johnston and Evan Dando took their opening matches against Scotland in straight sets.
The South West partnership of H.Brett and H.Hebard and O.Sharps and I.Gibbs followed suit with a convincing display over Gibraltar.
A Golden set was needed between London and Scotland with London able to snatch the vital set 15-13.
Wales also needed a golden set in the pool stages with a 15-10 victory over England 2 after a nail-biting 23-21 second set in the match between Maghur and Evans and Plaza and Macleod.
Gibraltar made the second England team work hard requiring another Golden set to decide who would advance. Gibraltar were victorious on this occasion with a 15-9 victory in the decisive set.
Day two saw Wales take on the Gibraltar side in the semi-finals which Wales were able to take in impressive fashion 2-0 (21-10, 21-14) and (21-18, 21-13).
This saw Wales progress to the Final were they would meet the South West after they were able to claim a 2-1 victory in both matches over Scotland.
The Welsh teams came out swinging and were able to clinch the top spot with Scotland taking third place after a 17-15 golden set result.
The women’s competition started similarly, with a 2-0 victory for the English team of Robyn Clifford/Olivia Cross and Charlotte Anderton/Jennifer Rates, who showcased their skills against the teams from Scotland.
The South West needed a tight golden set to take their first match against Northern Ireland (15-13).
They needed another golden set when taking on England but again the South West were able to push through and took it 15-8.
Wales also finished the pool stages with two wins under their belt with a golden set victory over England 2 and a straight sets victory over Scotland.
An all England match-up in the knockouts in the afternoon saw the England pair of Robyn Clifford and Olivia Cross pip Charlotte Anderton and Jennifer Rates to the next round after a strong performance from both sides.
England however couldn’t keep this momentum going with a tough golden set loss to Wales in the second knockout round finishing 15-9 in the decisive golden set.
Wales took on the South West in the final after victories over England and Scotland respectively.
But it was the pair of K.Tuohey/M.Quinn and C.Chambers/S.Chedgy who were able to overcome the power of the Welsh and take the gold medal.
You can read the full results here: men's results and women's results.
A big congratulations to all teams who took part over the weekend and fended off some challenging conditions.
