The MEVZA U18/U20 Beach Volleyball Championship 2026 came to a thrilling conclusion on Sunday, 26 July, as the tournament’s final day featured the gold medal matches and classification games across all four age categories. Over four days of competition, some of the region’s most promising young beach volleyball players from Israel, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Croatia and Cyprus showcased their talent and determination in Limassol, while passionate fans created an outstanding atmosphere.
The Czech Republic confirmed its dominance in the U18 competition by capturing both championship titles. In the U18 Boys’ Final, Vavrich / Michalek defeated compatriots Novotny / Votava in straight sets (21-16, 21-11), while in the U18 Girls’ Final, Endlicherova / Uchrova overcame Hola / Simkova 2-0 (28-26, 21-14) to secure the gold medal.
This year’s championship also marked a historic milestone for Cypriot beach volleyball. For the first time, Cyprus had two teams competing in the gold medal matches in the same edition, highlighting the country’s continuous progress on the international stage.
Although both Cypriot pairs narrowly missed out on the titles, they produced outstanding performances and earned silver medals, the best-ever result for Cyprus at a MEVZA Beach Volleyball Championship. In the U20 Girls’ Final, Dafna Maor / Ariel Nahshoni of Israel defeated Konstantina Siapani / Thea Christoforou 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-8) after a highly competitive encounter.
In the U20 Boys’ Final, Israel’s Yanay Benjamin Goldshmid Fisher / Omer Gozlan claimed the title with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) victory over Alexios Anninos Chrysostomou / Michalis Kalafatis.
With two gold medals for the Czech Republic in the U18 categories and two gold medals for Israel in the U20 categories, the 2026 MEVZA Championship concluded with four high-quality finals that showcased the region’s emerging beach volleyball talent.
MEVZA President Valentina Bifflin, who received a commemorative plaque from the Cyprus Volleyball Federation in recognition of her contribution, commented on the event’s success:
“I would like to congratulate our hosts and the organizers for the excellent organization of this event. For sure, Cyprus has the conditions for more. The courts are excellent, the venue is really supreme, so I see great potential here in Cyprus to continue with the organization of such events. Moreover, we have been negotiating for several years now for Cyprus to host, also, the qualification tournament of the European Championships, so we will see what happens next year.
You have great people here in the organization, and I can see that enormous effort has been made for this event to be on the highest level, so there is no question about the quality and the readiness of the Cyprus Volleyball Federation to host another event of a higher level”.
