Information and photo courtesy of volleyball.org.au
There were plenty of upsets at the 2025 Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships in Coolangatta this weekend, with the marquee event doubling as the final for the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour.
Commonwealth Games gold medalist Paul Burnett together with rising star Luke Ryan, saved the best for last to win their first gold medal of the season in today’s final.
Missing the opening round of the tour, the duo have picked up a bronze and silver during the 2024-2025 season, rounding out their medals today with the elusive gold they have been chasing.
Burnett and Ryan looked in control from the outset but came up against a determined Jack Pearse and D’Artagnan Potts, who didn’t let the gold medalists run away with the match. The high callibre contest kept fans on their feet, with the final score 2:0 (21-15, 21-18).
“It feels so good to win but feels even better to play a high quality game,” said Burnett.
“Jack and Darty really brought it to us so it was really high quality from both teams. When you finish on top after those really tough battles you take a lot of confidence so we are really happy.
“It’s super cool to have the crowds packed in and with all the young guys starting their tournament [Youth Championships] tomorrow, it’s nice to have the cheers when you do something cool. We are really grateful for everyone coming out today to support.
“The World tour and the Asian tour are now starting, and World Championships at the end of the year so we’ll need to rest up now because the main work is still yet to come,” he said.
For 21 year old Luke Ryan, he’s relishing the opportunity to play alongside an experienced Australian team representative in Burnett and has been counting down for a return to Queensland for the final.
“This is certainly my home beach and I’ve been looking forward to getting back here all year and just to come out and rip in that hard and come away with a gold medal, it means more than you can imagine,” he said.
The proud Queenslander said they will turn their sights now to the international season in the hopes he’ll have the opportunity to represent his country for the first time at a World Championships in Adelaide to be held from 14-23 November 2025.
“It’s going to be an opportunity of a lifetime and we are going to do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to do the best we can at that event.
“It’s so exciting to have the World Championships in Adelaide, at The Drive, right near where we live and train. It’s just so exciting,” he said.
In the women’s, Australian Beach Volleyball Tour leaders and Queensland locals Georgia Johnson and Lizzie Alchin, were forced to settle for silver in today’s final, with USA sister duo Morgan and Alaina Chacon taking gold.
The Chacon sisters were granted an international wildcard for the Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships, as they arrived down under to also compete in the Beach Volleyball World Pro Tour Futures taking place next weekend at Coolangatta.
It was a closely fought battle between the two sides, but the Chacon sisters narrowly took the gold, winning 2:0 (21-19; 21-18).
“We started off pretty slow, we had a great comeback and it got closer and closer and we just stuck together,” said Alaina.
“The second set they started up and we came back and we just had to stick through those tough moments and find a way through them and I’m really proud we could do that,” she said.
Morgan echoed her sister’s comments and said she was thrilled they have the opportunity to play again next weekend before they head to Thailand for another Beach Pro Tour Futures event.
“This is our first time playing in the Australian domestic tour events which has been great. We got the international wildcard for this final as we also prepare for the Futures next weekend.
“We are lucky we got the wildcard, lucky we got a lot of experience together, we’re a new team together. Really lucky to play in this super awesome environment,” said Morgan.
USA duo Delaney Peranich and Kaeli Crews were able to take home the bronze medal ahead of Aussies Tara Phillips and Cameron Zajer, 2:1 (22-20, 21-10, 15-9).
With the two sides coming into the final round of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour seeded third and fourth (respectively), Peranich/Crews said they knew the match would likely be pushed to three sets.
The opening match of the medal matches saw one of the biggest upsets of the day, with 22nd seeded Mateusz Zieba (NSW) and Daniele Di Stefano (NSW) knocking off Australian Beach Volleyball Tour leaders Justin Schumann (VIC) and Garang Anyang (VIC).
Schumann and Anyang had been consistent throughout the season and despite pushing to the very end, almost pushing the match into a third set, Zieba and Di Stefano drew on the strong Manly support crew in the crowd to help tip them over – taking the bronze medal 2:0 (21-16; 24-22).
Action on the Gold Coast continues this week as part of #Volleyslam, the largest Beach Volleyball festival down under. Coming up is the Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships where the best young teams from across the country will converge on the Gold Coast. Follow @AusVolley for all the latest.
For full results – click here.
Volleyball Australia would like to thank major partners Experience Gold Coast, Tourism and Events Queensland, Mahindra and Scape Australia.
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