30-year-old Ukrainian twins Inna Makhno & Iryna Makhno triumphed at the women’s Krakow Futures on Sunday to celebrate their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold in three years. On the podium in Poland, they were joined by Norway’s Frida Berntsen & Oda Steinsvag and Spain’s Sofia Izuzquiza & Sofia Gonzalez.
The Makhno sisters, seeded ninth in the Krakow main draw, finished runners-up in their pool, but then went on a four-match winning run in the playoffs to collect their second Beach Pro Tour medal as a team. The first one was also gold and they earned it at the Baden Futures back in 2022.
In the semifinals, the Ukrainians produced a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) upset of fourth-seeded Marta Lodej & Julia Kielak of Poland, and in the gold medal showdown, they persevered through two overtime sets to achieve a 2-1 (23-21, 20-22, 15-5) victory in the tie-breaker against Berntsen & Steinsvag.

The 2025 Krakow Futures women’s podium (source: cev.eu)
The fifth-seeded Norwegians stormed the tournament on a four-match victory streak, crowned with a 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-13) comeback win over second-seeded Izuzquiza & Gonzalez in the semifinals, which guaranteed them their first ever Beach Pro Tour podium.
The Spanish duo also reached the semis undefeated and, after the loss to Berntsen & Steinsvag, they bounced back with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) sweep of the bronze medal match against Lodej & Kielak. It was the Beach Pro Tour debut for the two Sofias as a team. Just a week earlier, 19-year-old Izuzquiza celebrated her first Tour podium with another Futures bronze in Sveti Vlas, but in a tandem with Ana Vergara.
26 women’s teams representing 16 different countries took part in the Krakow Futures. Four Futures events will take place this week, from June 19 to 22 – in Qidong, China, in Ios, Greece, in Messina, Italy and a men’s tournament in Geneva, Switzerland.