For two days this weekend, the beach handball players battled for the crown on the sand. A total of 40 women's and men's teams from across Germany competed at the 29th Beach Handball Days at the Warnemünde Beach Arena. The "Rostock Beach Club" team successfully defended its title in the women's competition. In the men's competition, the defending champions from Rostock lost to the surprise winners, "Gabi's Jungs" from Berlin-Potsdam.
The 29th Beach Handball Days at the Strand Arena Warnemünde were a complete success. Photo: Katrin Heidemann
In the women's final, the defending champions from the "Rostocker Beach Club" team faced off against tournament newcomers from the "Strandperle Hamburg" team. Both teams are pure beach handball teams and have participated in the German Open in the past. The highly experienced beach handball players made the final extremely exciting and gave each other no points. After two sets, the score was 1:1, and so the penalty shootout decides victory or defeat. The goalkeeper passes the ball to a player from her team running forward, who in turn shoots at the opposing goal. A "normal" shot awards one point, while a shot involving a beach handball trick, such as a pirouette, doubles the points. The decision was made shortly before the end of the penalty shootout: the players from the "Rostocker Beach Club" team successfully defended their title and thus secured their tenth victory at the Beach Handball Days on the Warnemünde beach.
"We had respect for the Hamburg team as a pure beach handball team because they're young and energetic. But ultimately, we were able to convince with our experience. The final was amazing," the Rostock winners agreed. Third and fourth place also went to Rostock women: The women of "Mein Löwe -Mein Bär" took third place, while the "Beach Chicks Rostock" finished in a disappointing fourth place.
Title defense successful: the happy winners of the "Rostock Beach Club" team. Photo: Katrin Heidemann
The men's final also featured a top-class field: The defending champions from "Beachteam Rostock" faced "Gabi's Boys" from Berlin-Potsdam. The first set ended in a tie and was decided by the so-called "golden goal," whereby the first goal scored decides the set. After the second set, it was clear: the title defense had been unsuccessful; instead, "Gabi's Boys" celebrated their victory at the Beach Handball Days, in which they participated for the first time.
The surprise winners from Berlin-Potsdam: "Gabi's Boys." Photo: Katrin Heidemann
The surprise winners from Berlin-Potsdam had an equally surprising recipe for success after their victory: "This was the first time we've played beach handball at the tournament. Several of us know each other from our handball days at the Potsdam Sports School, and we thought the tournament would be a good opportunity to meet up again. We hadn't expected to win. Until we arrived, we didn't even know that we needed to have player numbers on our shirts, so we quickly sprayed them on. Now we're going for a quick dip in the Baltic Sea and then we're heading back home. But of course, we'll be back next year to defend our title, especially since no men's team has ever successfully defended it here."
The 29th Beach Handball Days once again offered exciting sporting action on the sand. Photo: Katrin Heidemann
Third place in the men's competition went to the "Altherren Truppe" ahead of "Team Matze" from Rostock. Both teams approached the third-place match in a relaxed and fun manner, with the goalkeeper occasionally deflecting balls while doing handstands.
Not only did the participants have a lot of fun at the tournament, the organizers were also completely satisfied. "The weather could have been better, but the atmosphere was fantastic and everyone was happy. I'm pleased that, with 40 teams, we've grown again compared to last year's tournament. This time we held an official referee training course beforehand, which puts us well positioned for the future. I'm absolutely delighted with the 2025 Beach Handball Days," summarized Beach Handball Manager Johann Müller from the organizing team of the host BHV Rostock/MV Nord.
