Graudiņa/Samoilova take silver at Hamburg beach volleyball tournament

Latvian beach volleyball pair Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova finished the Hamburg 'Elite 16' event of the Beach Pro Tour (BPT) in Germany with a silver medal on Sunday.

Seeded third in the tournament, the Latvians lost the final 0-2 (19-21, 18-21) to Switzerland's Ninna Brunner and Tanja Hüberli, who had already beaten them earlier in a group-stage match. The Swiss pair was seeded sixth in the event.

For their runner-up finish, Graudiņa/Samoilova earned 1,100 ranking points and a prize of 20,000 US dollars. This marked the fifth time the Latvian duo has reached an 'Elite 16' final, and they have lost all five.

The Latvians reached the final after beating second-seeded Brazilians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti in the semifinal 2-1 (16-21, 25-23, 15-11).

Men's competition

Latvia's men's pairs had more modest results at the tournament. Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Kristians Fokerots claimed third place, while Ardis Bedrītis and Artūrs Rinkevičs lost in the first round of the play-off bracket on Saturday, finishing tied for ninth.

The Hamburg tournament was part of the Pro Beach Tour series, where 'Elite 16' is the top-tier category, followed by 'Challenge' and 'Futures' level events.