German Olympian Victorious in The Barefoot Open - UK Footvolley Championships 2009

July 4th, 2009

Hundreds of beach sport enthusiasts were treated to a day of amazing footvolley action on Brighton beach this weekend at The Barefoot Open – UK Footvolley Championships.

The event, held at Nivea Sun Yellowave Beach Sports Venue on Madeira Drive on Saturday July 4th, attracted some of the world’s top players, who battled it out in perfect conditions. After 8 hours of competition, Markus Dieckmann and Thomas Noack of Germany, came out on top, after defeating the Dutch pair of Bart Zantmann and Martijn Ten Duis in 2 action packed and closely fought sets. Dieckmann, who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics in Beach Volleyball, was the player of the tournament, amazing the crowds with some superb overhead kicks and levels of athleticism.

Barefoot Wine, the event sponsor, was on hand to create a fantastic atmosphere with wine tasting and live samba performances. Spectators were fortunate enough to benefit from the experience of players from Spain, Brazil and the UK during public demo sessions throughout the day in the hope of finding future British talent and attracting more players to the ever-growing sport. “It was a great opportunity to see some of the world’s best players competing in Brighton” said Damion Sulc, of NIVEA SUN Yellowave Beach Sports. “It’s not every day that you get to see Olympians competing at this level!”

The UK Footvolley Association, who were also in attendance, hope to be teaming up with NIVEA SUN Yellowave this summer, by setting up regular footvolley sessions for all.

For more photos of the event visit our gallery page: click here