D – Atlantis Fioi asserted itself in the Cybergroup BeachCup 2023 and took the challenge trophy back home with them to San Donà di Piave in Veneto. In the final the team of the Italian headwear specialists beat the Mahlwerck Chiggers in two sets. 30 teams – primarily from the promotional products industry in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands – competed against each other on the beach volleyball courts of the TSG Ketsch club near Mannheim on June 17, 2023.
Food and beverages, party music, a paddling pool, basketball shooting, table football and an ice cream truck lent the event a festival atmosphere. There was also a massage tent with physiotherapists for the players. Non-playing colleagues, friends and families gathered on the stands and around the courts to cheer their teams on. After three years intermission due to the pandemic, everyone was delighted to come together for the ninth BeachCup.
Steven Baumgaertner, CEO of the Cybergroup, was impressed with how the event has grown over the years. He explained that the suppliers of the Mannheim-based promotional products distributors originally came up with the idea for the BeachCup, because they wanted to offer an event everyone could have a good time at in a family-like atmosphere.
In sporting terms the field of participants was very mixed: Whereas some of the teams were ambitiously battling it out to win the cup, others predominantly took part because of the social aspect. The title defenders, the Smashing Bankers from Volksbank Kurpfalz, were already knocked out in the games between the last sixteen by the subsequent finalists, the Mahlwerck Chiggers. The team Atlantis Fioi already reached the final in 2019 and were considered to be the favourites after the preliminary round. The technically and tactically well-versed Italian team ultimately proved victorious and Baumgaertner presented the team with the challenge trophy. “This is so exciting,” announced the Atlantis Fioi team after the final. “We have been training once a week since March. Our team spirit is incredible and we are delighted we have won.” In the evening the participants got together in the Bootshaus Mannheim for the Players Night. This is where the official prize-giving ceremony took place and the tournament was brought to a festive close.
// Andreas J. Haller
Photos: Andreas J. Haller, © WA Media
