Russia scored a first ever gold medal at the European Beach Tennis Championships in Eilat on Saturday, winning the mixed doubles crown, while Italian teams continued their dominance of the men’s and women’s competitions.
The top seeds emerged triumphant in both the men’s and women’s events, with both events featuring all-Italian finals for a second straight year. The men’s title went to Michele Cappelletti & Matteo Marighella, who withstood a second set fightback from compatriots Luca Carli & Luca Meliconi to eventually secure a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win.
The win marked a second European Beach Tennis Championship title for each player; Capelletti previously won with Carli in 2011 while Marighella won in 2010 alongside Alex Mingozzi. The pair also completed a double European/World Championship title sweep, having won the World Championships in Cervia in August.
The women’s title went to Flavia Bacchetta & Sofia Cimatti who bounced back from a nightmare start to outlast Flaminia Daina & Giulia Gasparri 0-6 6-3 7-5. Neither team had lost a set on route to the final, where the reigning world champions completely dominated the first set. Bacchetta & Cimatti were clearly determined not to leave with a silver medal for a second successive year and managed to turn the match around to claim their first European title. The win would have been extra satisfying for Bacchetta, who had been a runner-up on three previous occasions.
Russia claimed both bronze medals, as Nikita Burmakin & Sergey Kuptsov beat Antomi Ramos-Viera and Gerard Rodriguez of Spain and Daria Churakova & Ekaterina Kirgizova beat Magalie Garnier & Elodie Vadel of France. Both matches were decided by tie-breaks.
Russian players have been making steady progress on the Beach Tennis Tour in recent years, so it was no surprise to see Russia become the first non-Italian nation ever to claim a gold medal at the European Beach Tennis Championships.
For their players Nikita Burmakin & Daria Churakova it was no easy task however, as they faced formidable opponents in the shape of top seeds Matteo Marighella & Federica Bacchetta. Early on, the Italians looked to be on course to complete to gold medal sweep for an eighth successive year conceding just one game in the first set. They also led in the second set before the Russian pair stormed back to claim it 7-5, and with the momentum on their side they breezed through the champions’ tie-break, losing just two points to record an historic victory.
Luca Meliconi & Giulia Gasparri earned a small consolation for Italy, beating Antomi Ramos-Viera and Rosa Sitja of Spain 6-4 7-5 to take the bronze medal.
A total of 69 doubles teams from 15 nations took part in this eighth edition of the competition. The event was hosted by the Israeli Tennis Association and played in the beach resort of Eilat.
Draws and Results
Men's Doubles | Women's Doubles | Mixed Doubles
Men's Consolation | Women's Consolation
Photo Gallery | Nations Rankings