Underdogs shock big guns to lift ebt trophies

Escola de Formação de Espinho - Os Tigres / LEVEL turned on the heat in the knockout stage of the men's competition as, despite finishing fourth in the group phase, the Portuguese club outplayed their opponents in the business end of the tournament to win the title. In the final, Spanish side Salazones Herpac BMP Barbate were very close to equalising the result by taking the second set. But Os Tigres’ Julio Sierra Garcia, who scored an incredible 20 points in the match, stole the victory with a golden goal in the second set to spark the celebrations on the sand.

Similar to Os Tigres’ journey to the title, Spain’s CBMP Ciudad de Málaga placed third in the group stage before going all the way to the trophy in the women's competition. The Spanish club also met a Portuguese team in the final, AD IA Sports, having lost to the club in the group stage, but Ciudad de Málaga were the better team in the final and comfortably won 2:0 on the wings of the ebt Finals 2024 MVP Mariam Gonzalez Llambrich, who scored 16 points in the last match in Lacanau.

The Malága-based team’s celebrations marked the end of beautiful scenes over the four days of action on the coast of France, while Irish club Niterói Rugby FC won third place in both the men’s and women's competitions.

Men's competition:

• last year's runners-up, BHC Zagreb (CRO), were not able to replicate the previous year's success of reaching the final as Salazones Herpac BMP Barbate won the dramatic shootout in the semi-final, 2:1. Guillermo Alvarez Villasan scored 16 points for the winning side
• Niterói Rugby FC fell short in the bid to reach the final as Escola de Formação de Espinho - Os Tigres / LEVEL continued their impressive run through the knockout stage with a comfortable 2:0 win in the semi-final
• Niterói Rugby FC routinely defeated BHC Zagreb in the 3/4 placement match, 2:0, with Renan Pinheiro Carvalho scoring 17 points and denying every attempt by the Croatian club to mount a comeback
• in the 5/6 placement match, Vegetas BHC (POR) secured fifth place led by Miguel Costa, who scored 12 points past Feyenoord Handball (NED), while in the play-off for seventh, 12Monkeys Köln BHC (GER) were narrowly superior, 2:1, to Zacaloo BMP Parla (ESP) thanks to a more confident performance in the shootout
• in the consolation round to determine ninth to 14th place, BHC Sesvete Carpe Diem Beach (CRO) secured a narrow win (2:1) against London Beach Handball (GBR) via the shootout route, while Beach Stars BHC (HUN) and Lacanau Beach Handball (FRA) recorded 2:0 wins against BHT GRU JUKO Piotrków Trybunalski (POL) and Czech Lions (CZE), respectively
• Vegetas BHC's Miguel Martins, who made a swift change from indoor to beach handball to win the precious award in Lacanau after starring for Pick Szeged in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24, was voted MVP of the men's competition. Balázs Nagy (Feyenoord Handball) was named best goalkeeper and Tomislav Laus (BHC Zagreb) was the best defender to complete the men’s ebt Finals 2024 All-star Team
• Zacaloo's Javier Delgado Sanchez narrowly scooped the top scorer award, with 148 points — just one point ahead of Niterói's Pinheiro Carvalho

Women's competition:

• Portuguese club AD IA Sports became the first side to reach the final after Christine Mansour scored 20 points in the dominant semi-final win, 2:0, against Irish side Niterói Rugby FC
• despite an unbeaten run and only one dropped set on the way to the semi-final, OVB Beach Girls Salgotarjan (HUN) lost 0:2 against CBMP Ciudad de Málaga, who completely dominated the penultimately match and deservedly reached the final
• Niterói Rugby FC came off victorious, 2:1, in the dramatic 3/4 placement match against OVB Beach Girls Salgotarjan, with one of the top scorers in the competition — Lavinia Soares de Lima — scoring 16 points past the Hungarian side
• Multichem Szentendrei NKE closely followed their fellow Hungarian side, OVB Beach Girls Salgotarjan, to clinch fifth place after confidently winning against Balonmano Playa Alcalá, 2:0. CAIPIranhas Bartenbach (GER) edged out Kononierky Team Slovakia (SLO) to take seventh place after a shoot-out, 2:1
• in the placement matches for ninth to 14^th place, two-times ebt winners, The Danish Beachhandball Dream, lost 1:2 to Hiekka Hauskaa/BEA (NED), while the Czech Lioness (CZE) and BHT Conkret Byczki Kowalewo Pomorskie (POL) recorded 2:0 wins against Lacanau Beach Handball (FRA) and Olympia Beach Handball (GB), respectively
• Mariam Gonzalez Llambrich was voted by fans as the MVP after her impressive performances for Ciudad de Málaga. The best goalkeeper, Sabrina Oliveira (Olympia Beach Handball), and best defender, Gabriella Landi (OVB Beach Girls Salgotarjan), rounded out the women’s ebt Finals 2024 All-star Team
• CAIPIranhas Pauline Borrmann was top scorer of the women's competition, with 147 points