NEVZA Beach England 2025 – day three round-up

With the wind dropping and under blue skies and a hot sun, conditions were perfect for some exciting action as the tournament’s best eight Senior players prepared to do battle - and it did not disappoint.

Enrique Bello and Niko Gleed were delighted winners of the men’s competition on home sand - the latter’s first senior title.

Having progressed unbeaten through the Pool and their quarter-final, they made it five wins out of five by first overcoming the dangerous Kjemperud brothers, Sebastian and Jonah, in the semi-finals (21-19, 21-17) and then edged a final thriller.

The England pair were in cruise control in the first set to take it 21-14 with a mix of power and patience.

But their Norwegian opponents, Håvard Solheim and Oscar Majak did not take things lying down and showed their determination by saving three match points before closing it out 25-23.

But, with the home crowd cheering them on, back came Gleed and Bello, with the help of a big block from the former midway through the set, to run out 15-12 victors in the decider to spark the celebrations.

“It was a real roller coaster of emotions, and the second set was a real tough one as they upped their level, but we stayed solid in the third so we’re really happy to be taking home the gold,” said Bello.

Gleed added: “All four players are dead right now because it’s been unreal weather, but all players kept it at a really good level.”

The women’s final saw two Norwegian pairs go head to head for gold and it was former Queen & King of the Court London Showcase competitor Sunniva Helland-Hansen, in partnership with Nina Pavlova, who clinched a place on top of the podium.

The duo found their best form at the business end of the tournament, with Helland-Hansen spiking powerfully and Pavlova blocking authoritatively to prove too much for their compatriots Julia Tennøy and Solveig Sunde, coming through 21-16, 21-14.

They had earlier beaten England’s Katie Keefe and Martha Bullen (21-19, 21-14), who had defeated them in Friday’s pool matches, to earn their shot at gold.

“We were a bit worried at the beginning because it was such a long trip for us and we booked everything at the last minute, but everyone we have talked to has been so positive and we even had some fish and chips and swam in the sea!” said Pavlova.

Helland-Hansen added: “Our mentality throughout the tournament was to take one point at a time - it didn’t matter who was on the other side. We tried to play smart in the wind and always tried to put pressure on the server… that was important for us.”

Earlier, England clinched the bronze medal in the women’s third/fourth place match as they took control early of their clash with near-neighbours Scotland and never let up.

In the end, Keefe and Bullen ran out 21-12, 21-14 victors over Kathryn Barbour and Rachel Morrison of Scotland with some smart and creative shot making.

The men’s bronze medal match saw the Kjermperud brothers bounce back superbly from their semi-final defeat to Bello and Gleed by securing third step on the podium.

With Sebastian dominating at the net and Jonah covering around behind him, they had too much for the Finnish pair of Pekka Piippo and Teppo Pulkkinen, encountering few problems en route to a 21-10, 21-9 success.

Report by Matt Halfpenny. Images by Simon Clarke and Matt Halfpenny

View the NEVZA Beach England 2025 home page here.

Follow the day two and day three action live on the Volleyball England YouTube Channel here.