Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany - Israel is the new European Footvolley Champion. Until now both France (2016, 2018) and Portugal (2017, 2019) won the European men’s title two times. But in this 5th edition Israel’s top athletes Ron Ben Ishay and Maor Haas secured this historical first title. In the final they beat the former champions Antoine Ottaviani and Dumé Sussini from France. For Ron and Maor it was a clear case of expectation meets reality. The expectations of the Israeli duo were clear long before: First the Israeli championship, then Europe and finally the world. The reality however involved hard work and much suffering. You can’t pre-order the championship title. So they earned it and the crowd loved every second.
The European Champion 2021 is Israel with Ron Ben Ishay & Maor Haas
Footvolley returns home
All 7 stages of the EFVL Tour 2020 got cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. Even this year for long it remained uncertain how we could host the championship in a responsible way.. But then we received an excellent offer from the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Germany.. Playa de Gamundia already was the home of the first European Championship in 2016. When we had a look at their plans, we did not hesitate long.. And the European footvolley community was thrilled to take part in this title fight that took place from August 6th to 8th 2021..
“As soon as we heard the official European Championship was taking place in Germany we made that our priority for 2021.”
Last minute substitutes
All 15 member nations were invited to the corona-proof arena at Pllaya de Gamundia. Travel, especially from high risk countries, was not easy. Belgium and Croatia didn’t manage to send their national champions These two open spots were filled with second teams of the top ranked nations of the latest European ranking. So in came Portugal 2, which gave the reigning European champions Miguel Pinheiro and Filipe Santos a chance to enter the competition and Spain 2 was represented by the internationally renowned duo Pablo Carcelen and Carlos Delgado. Only nine days before the event unfortunately Miguel and Filipe had to cancel but Portugal managed to replace them with another excellent team. David Peres and Djalmir de Andrade were their worthy replacements. Exactly one week before the championship Spain 2 also had misfortune: Pablo got injured during training and was replaced by the young talent Miquel Marín Ferrando. Germany as the hosting nation also got to send a second team next to the brothers Dennis and Mitch Weber. At the very last minute Germany 2 had to replace Lukas Kircherer with Jakob Domke teaming up with Joel Nisslein.
Safe travels & a corona safe arena
Furthermore we are proud to mention that this was a corona safe event. A large majority of athletes and staff were fully vaccinated, others traveled with a negative test result. During the 3-day event everyone entering the official area got tested on a daily basis. The stadium was built in such a manner that the spectators could safely watch the games. At the stadium athletes who needed a test certificate to fly back home could get one .In short, the German organization was impeccable. Not a single case of Covid-19 has been detected before, during or after the European championship.
Kick-start the group games
All observers agree: the already excellent level of footvolley in Europe keeps rising in all member nations. In group A the Netherlands (Antonio Aurino & Ben Sparenberg) won all their games against Portugal 1, Germany 2 and Norway. In group B it was Spain 1 (Facundo Silva & Sergi Talavera) who managed to beat Spain 2, Austria and Switzerland. Group C the vice-champions of 2019 Italy (Federico Iacopucci & Alain Faccini) came out victorious against Germany 1, Portugal 2 and Sweden. And in group D it was a close call but France (Antoine Ottaviani & Dume Sussini) became first in the group. They won from Israel, Greece and the United Kingdom
“In the group we lost from France. Maor disappeared for 2 hours. He was lying on the table of the physiotherapist still analyzing the game.”
Here you can watch the group game between France and Israel: Group D game: France vs Israel
Here you can see all the group standings: Groups standings EFC 2021.
Shark attack of Ron Ben Ishay (Israel)
Elimination round
Group winners Netherlands, Spain 1, Italy and France advanced directly to the quarter finals. The numbers 2 and 3 in the groups were drawn to play a qualification game. Portugal 1 (Beto Correia & Ruben Santos) won against Greece. Israel had no problems with Austria. Then there was a close fight but Spain 2 managed to beat Portugal 2 (20:18 10:18 15:10). And in the last qualifier the home crowd went wild for Germany 1 versus Germany 2.
Here you can see the victory of Germany 1:: Germany 1 vs Germany 2
Quarter finals
Quarter final 1: Germany 1 (Dennis & Mitch Weber) beat the Dutch team (Antonio Aurino & Ben Sparenberg) in a real thriller 18:8 13:18 18:20.
Quarter final 2: Spain 1 with Facu Silva and Sergi Talavera won versus Portugal 1
Quarter final 3: France (Antoine Ottaviani & Dumé Sussini) advanced with 18:15 18:9 versus Spain 2.
Quarter final 4: Italy with Federico Iacopucci & Alain Faccini fought hard against Israel but lost in 8:18 20:22.
In that second set Israel was behind 19-20 and Ron attacks with a shark. Federico responds with a shark block. Ron lands badly on his rib but doesn’t feel much pain. Israel wins that 2nd set but right after Ron collapses unable to breath. His turn to visit the physiotherapist..
Semi finals
In the first semi final Germany, although loudly cheered on by the home crowd, lost against France..
Here you can watch that game and enjoy the great athmosphere: Semi Final Germany vs France
Israel had to deal with what they believed were their toughest opponents on the road to the finals: Spain, with the talented Facu and Tala. During the warm-up to that game Ron is unable to run much due to lack of air. Luckily Maor played for two. He covered 70% of the court and attacked with great precision. After a cautious start and out of pure willpower Ron gets back into the game and Israel wins 2-0. and reserved their spot in the final.
Have a look at the game here: Semi Final Israel vs Spain
The bronze brothers
In the bronze final home team Germany with an outstanding Dennis and Mitch Weber manages to hold off Spain 18:16 18:15. What an excellent performance of the German brothers. In the days before the official competition they were already omnipresent in a youth training camp, at press conferences, sponsor events and a local footvolley tournament. Can you imagine the emotional discharge after winning a medal in the presence of your family, friends and fans?
Here you see the bronze final: Bronze Final Germany vs Spain
Mitch and Dennis Weber from Germany celebrating the bronze medal
They came to collect gold
In the final of the European Footvolley Championship Israel and France met again. In the group game and in rainy conditions France came out victorious 19-17. However this time Ron, who is normally quite nervous before any game, felt confident. Team Israel analyzed what went wrong and adjusted its strategy. Even the weather conditions were perfect. This time France did not find many openings and was unable to defend the shark attacks. So Ron and Maor went for the gold in 8-18 and 11-18. Of course they celebrated Israel’s first European title with their signature simultaneous back flip.
You can watch the final here: Final France vs Israel
We finally saw the full potential of Israel. They showed great craftsmanship and a superb mentality. After the game they made a victory lap to thank the crowd and received the cup from the Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd. When they arrived back home in Israel Ron was admitted to the hospital with a punctured lung from his fall in the quarter finals. Talent and hard work might get you to a final, but it’s mental power that will get you the well-deserved gold medal. Congratulations!
Happiness and pain:Just enough air to become European Champions
All photo 📷: Mario Klaiber & Johannes Zimmermann