The opening day of the MEVZA Beach Volleyball Senior Championship 2026 in Benešov delivered a full day of exciting beach volleyball action, with nearly all pool phase matches completed in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Only one match remains to be played in each pool on Saturday morning before the tournament moves into the Round of 12 in both categories.
In the men’s competition, several top-seeded teams opened the tournament with confident performances. Czech favourites Perusic/Sedlak started strongly in Pool A with a straight-set victory over Pernossi/Wolff from Luxembourg (21-19, 21-8), while Slovenian duo Renko/Prevorcnik edged out Pala/Sotola in a dramatic three-set battle (17-21, 21-18, 16-14).
Pool B produced one of the surprises of the day, as Hungarian pair Olah/Ghazal defeated second-seeded Jezek/Waber from Czechia in three sets (21-18, 12-21, 15-6). Another close encounter saw Mugerli/Jevsnik from Slovenia overcome Jezek/Waber in straight sets (21-18, 21-19).
A particularly entertaining match came in Pool C, where the Czech pair Dumek/Westphal defeated the Croatian duo Devald/Repek 2-0 in a high-quality contest, taking the opening set 28-26 before closing the second set 21-15. In the same pool, Olsansky/Brnak came back after losing the first set to beat Hohenauer/Sponer A. from Austria 2-1 (13-21, 21-19, 15-12).
Pool D also featured several tight battles. Austrian pair Kitzmueller/Holzner upset fourth-seeded Bercik/Bercik in three sets (22-20, 16-21, 15-11), while Klemen/Holzinger recovered from losing the first set to defeat Pavlinsky/Marcok 2-1.
The women’s competition opened with equally strong intensity. Top-seeded Czech pair Kleiblova/Dvornikova began Pool A with a convincing 2-0 win over Skopova/Mrazkova (21-15, 21-8), while Hungarian duo Honti-Majoros/Posztós-Szabo secured an important three-set victory over Kubistova/Marcelova.
One of the most exciting matches of the women’s draw came in Pool B, where Cerna M./Lorenzova from Czechia survived a tough battle against Shkarupa/Hofstetter from Austria, eventually winning 2-1 (21-12, 18-21, 15-12). Israeli pair Dave/Lavie also impressed with a straight-set victory over Knoblochova/Petrikova.
In Pool C, Czech duo Honzovicova/Pospisilova showed excellent form in a dominant 2-0 victory over Kalar/Posedel from Slovenia, while Rudicka/Brinkova also advanced after defeating Gubik/Kiss-Bertok from Hungary.
Pool D featured two more three-set matches, as Tokosova/Terenova from Slovakia and Vasvari E./Vasvari Z. from Hungary both had to come from behind to secure victories.
With the final pool matches scheduled for Saturday morning, the race for a place in the Round of 12 remains wide open in both tournaments.
