Lausanne, Switzerland, January 9, 2017 – Rio 2016 bronze medallists Alexander Brouwer and Christiaan Varenhorst started the year by winning the Dutch Indoor Beach Volleyball Championships at Aalsmeer.
Marloes Wesselink and Laura Bloem meanwhile won the women’s title that comes less than a month before the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour begins at the Fort Lauderdale Major Series event on February 7.
Brouwer and Varenhorst won gold with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Mees Blom and Ruben Penninga, while third place was shared between Dirk Boehle and Tim Oude Elferink and Jannes van der Ham and Robin Kalmeijer.
“We had to really work hard for it and Mees and Ruben played well and you could tell that they have trained hard,” Brouwer said. “They have become strong and had a good series. We played well here in Aalsmeer and when things got tough, we were able to overcome the difficulties.”
Wesselink and Bloem beat Emi van Driel and Raise Schoon 2-0 (21-14, 22-20) to top the podium, after Jolien Sinnema and Joy Stubbe and Annemieke Driessen and Ilke Meertens shared third place.
“We have often finished second together, but now we have our first title together,” Wesselink said. “We certainly didn’t expect to win, but it shows we are playing well and enjoying playing together.”
Elsewhere in the tournament Marleen van Iersel (right) began her new partnership with Manon Flier-Nummerdor, wife of Dutch men’s player and 2015 World Championships silver medallist Reinder Nummerdor and the pair eventually reached the quarterfinals.
