Milestone ebt season titles to be decided
28 teams are set to vie for the titles at the European Beach Tour (ebt) Finals coming up between 5 and 8 June, with 14 women’s clubs and 14 men’s sides taking part in the tournament.
The ebt Finals 2025 are the culmination of the milestone 20th edition of the ebt, held in 2023/24. From 1 December 2023 to 31 October 2024, 42 tournaments took place in 15 countries, with 267 teams registered in the race to collect as many points as possible and reach the ebt Finals. Now, the quest for the titles that began back in December 2023 will come to an end across four action-packed days in Trapani, Italy.
The competition format in both genders sees a round-robin preliminary round played from the morning of Thursday 5 June until the middle of the day on Saturday 7 June, with two groups of seven teams each. On Saturday afternoon, the knockout stage and placement matches begin, with the top four teams from each preliminary round group progressing to the quarter-finals. Sunday is the big day reserved for only the semi-finals, finals and last 5–8 placement matches.
The champions of the 2024 edition, Spanish side Fundación Fomento y Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga, start in group A — which is expected to be a highly competitive one. Among the teams Málaga will meet in group A is the side they defeated in the final last year, the Portuguese club AD IASPORTS.
The Irish team Niterói Rugby FC, who placed third at the ebt Finals 2024, will also start their journey in group A, as will the winners of the last two editions of the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup — The Danish Beachhandball Dream, who have also taken the ebt title twice.
The runners-up of the Champions Cup 2024, CATS A.M. Team Almeria from Spain, will start in group B. Their squad features the beach handball MVP at the first EHF Excellence Awards, for the 2022/23 season, Asun Batista. Aside from being the MVP of the season that year, she was MVP of both the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2023 and the Champions Cup 2022.
Also among the seven teams in group B is Westsite Amsterdam, who were the top-ranked side of the ebt 2023/24 season based on points collected.
Hosts Italy are represented by Blue Team and Handball Erice. The latter feature the All-star Team goalkeeper of the ebt Finals 2024, Sabrina Oliveira, and will play in group A.
A total of 12 countries are represented by the teams in the women’s competition.
Group A is also the home of the defending title holders in the men’s competition, with EFE Os Tigres from Portugal beginning their campaign there. The MVP of the Champions Cup 2024, Ivan Juric, will feature in group A with BHC Zagreb.
The men’s side from Niterói Rugby FC, who achieved a double third-place finish for the club in 2024, will play in group B.
Group B is also home to the Champions Cup 2024 winners, GRD Leça – Spar from Portugal, as well as Aarhus Beach, who finished the ebt 2023/24 ranked first with 1,146 points. Hosts Italy’s sole representative in the men’s competition, Blue Team, are also part of the group B line-up.
Both Leça and Aarhus count on standout individuals in the beach competitions in recent years: top scorer of the Champions Cup 2024, Jakob Merrild, will play with Aarhus Beach, while the EHF Excellence Awards MVP of the 2023/24 season and All-star Team goalkeeper at the Champions Cup 2024, Ricardo Castro, is back with Leça.
The men’s teams contesting the ebt Finals 2025 represent 13 nations.
Have your say in the All-star Teams
Alongside the awarding of the trophies to the title winners, Sunday will see the presenting of the All-star Teams. For both genders, an All-star Team goalkeeper and defender will be announced, along with an MVP.
Six players will be nominated in each category, and then the vote will open for the public to make the final decisions. The vote will open on Saturday 7 June at 19:00 CEST and close on Sunday 8 June at 17:00 CEST. Voting will be possible on beach.eurohandball.com, so keep up to date with the latest news.
How to follow the ebt Finals 2025
All matches will be streamed live on EHFTV, with both tournament and day passes available.
Along with the regular updates that will be shared right here on beach.eurohandball.com, you can subscribe to the Beach Handball newsletter to get the latest news and stories delivered straight to your inbox. The ebt Finals 2025 can also be followed on the EHF’s beach handball Instagram.
