Celebration: Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher celebrate their first National Tour title in almost two years at the Cobram Barooga Classic 2024.
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The Cobram Barooga Classic, part of the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour, has been hailed a massive success.
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The event, held between Friday and Sunday, saw some of the top volleyball players nationwide come to beautiful Thompson’s Beach.
The games, played under scorching conditions, were relocated last year due to high waters along the Murray River.
But all that was forgotten over the weekend, which saw Stefie Fejes and Jana Milutinovic achieve their first tour victory as a combination on Sunday, while Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis won their first national tour title in almost two years.
Readying to serve: Ludimila Novakova from NSW gets ready to serve.
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Gabriel Garcia
The men’s gold medal match was a close contest.
Carracher and Nicolaidis took the opening set by four against Jack Pearse and Paul Burnett.
And while the second set went down to the wire, the pair managed to hold on to win.
In their final, Fejes and Milutinovic gained a career 3-2 head-to-head edge over Georgia Johnson and Jasmine Fleming, beating the top seeds in straight sets.
“We really went out there and played our game and executed. We’re really proud,” Fejes said.
Cobram Barooga Business and Tourism president Nicky Goldsworthy was ecstatic about how the event went and said hosting such prestigious sporting events gave the area great publicity.
“You can’t beat Thompson’s Beach; it’s an iconic beach,” she said.
“We are just such a wonderful destination in the middle of a beautiful area.”
Full results are as follows.
Elite Women: Gold medal match - Jana Milutinovic/Stefie Fejes d Georgia Johnson/Jasmine Fleming 2:0 (21-15, 21-13); Bronze medal match - Anna Donald/Daisy Mumby d Lucie Šauerová/Tarryn Angermeier 2:1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-7).
Elite Men: Gold medal match - Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher d Jack Pearse/Paul Burnett 2:0 (21-17, 21-18); Bronze medal match - James Takken/Josh Howat d D’Artagnan Potts/Ben Hood 2:1 (21-11, 14-21, 15-10).
Women Challenger Division 1: Gold medal match - Talia Samuel/Marcela Galeano d Imogen Rowe/Clara Lassen 2:1 (21-13, 19-21, 18-16); Bronze medal match - Evangeline La Terra/Lucia La Terra d Ludmila Novakova/Ewa Gorczanska 2:0 (21-13, 21-13).
Men Challenger Division 1: Gold medal match - Ben Carroll/Klaas McIntosh d Finley Bennett/Adam Fejes 2:1 (15-21, 21-14, 15-12); Bronze medal match - Thomas Smith/Luke Ryan d Georgios Fountotos/Sean Murphy 2:0 (21-16, 21-13).
Women Challenger Division 1: Gold medal match - Chloe Sumich/Caitlin Clarke d Charlotte Hansen/Rosie Alchin 2:1 (20-22, 22-20, 15-10); Bronze medal match - Lina Mueller/Lilyana Stanojevic d Kaija Bond/Mikayla Plapp 2:0 (21-14, 21-9).
Men Challenger Division 2: Gold medal match - William Sandall/Arthur Guasti d Chris Burns/Daniel Kuklych (forfeit); Bronze medal match: Ethan Grocott/Cooper Ryan d Oliver Clayton/Nathan Malloy 2:0 (20-22, 21-14, 15-13).
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