Champions were crowned in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Latvia

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The teams of van Iersel/Stubbe and Varenhorst/Bouter won the first event of the Dutch Tour (Photocredit: Dela Eredivisie)

With a slow week in the beach volleyball World Tour featuring only a two-star tournament in China and a one-star event in Turkey, most of the top European teams stayed on home soil to compete in their own National Tours.

In Switzerland, the city of Olten hosted the third tournament of the National Tour and the home teams of Nina Betschart/Tanja Hüberli and Marco Krattiger/Nico Beeler claimed the gold medals.

In the women’s final, Betschart and Hüberli, who finished second in the opening Swiss tour tournament of the season, in Zurich, defeated German invitees Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider, the semifinalists of the Fort Lauderdale Major, 2-0 (22-20, 21-15). The bronze medal went to Swiss Muriel Graessli and Dutch Pleun Ypma.

Happy with the victory @coopbeachtour in Olten🏆🥇😍☺️🙆‍♀️ Thanks for your support! ☺️😘 ~ ~ ~ #gold #victory #COOP #COOPBeachtour #olten #beachvolleyball #switzerland #home

431 Likes, 17 Comments - Tanja Hüberli (@tanjahueberli) on Instagram: "Happy with the victory @coopbeachtour in Olten🏆🥇😍☺️🙆‍♀️ Thanks for your support! ☺️😘 ~ ~ ~ #gold..."

In the men’s tournament, Krattiger and Beeler prevailed in an all-Swiss final with Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson to post a 2-0 victory (21-14, 21-16) and win their second medal in the national season, following a silver in Zurich. Simon Hagenbuch and Quentin Metral completed the podium with a bronze medal.

🥇🎊🎉🏆 Good day at the office💪🏽 * * * * #winnerwinnerchickendinner #podium #gold #emotions #switzerland #fitfam #gymtime #volleyball #volei #volleylife #lifesabeach #voleidepraia #pallavolo #fit #olten #bern #tokyo2020 #fitness #fit #gymlife #beachvolley #beachvolleyball #avp #avpstrong #oneteam #athlete #athleteslife #goodlife #eurobeach2018

463 Likes, 21 Comments - Marco Krattiger (@marcokrattiger) on Instagram: "🥇🎊🎉🏆 Good day at the office💪🏽 * * * * #winnerwinnerchickendinner #podium #gold #emotions..."

The fourth of seven stops scheduled for the Swiss Tour will happen next week in Locarno.

Dutch Tour kicks-off in Utrecht

About 800km North, the Dutch Tour started with a double-gender tournament in Utrecht, where local teams of Marleen van Iersel/Joy Stubbe and Christiaan Varenhorst/Jasper Bouter topped the podium.

In the women’s tournament, van Iersel and Stubbe, who are playing in their first season together, defeated veterans Marloes Wesselink and Sophie van Gestel, who had both retired from beach volleyball, in straight sets (25-23, 21-14) to claim gold. Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink prevailed over Germans Margareta Kozuch and Karla Borger to win bronze.

In the men’s event, the new team of Varenhorst and Bouter faced Brazilian wildcards Harley Marques and Moises Merces in the gold medal match to post a three-set victory (21-14, 18-21, 15-6). The 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen finished third.

Victory in Utrecht at #EredivisieBeach !! Happy how we played our games today 😁😄 Thanks for all the cheering and so cool to play in front of such an amazing crowd! 🍾🏆🥇 #VanhiertotTokyo #keephunting #whoopwhoop #Voorelkaar #TorqNL 📷 @pimspictures

248 Likes, 8 Comments - Joy Stubbe (@joystubbe) on Instagram: "Victory in Utrecht at #EredivisieBeach !! Happy how we played our games today 😁😄 Thanks for all the..."

The Dutch Tour, which will have another eight tournaments in 2018, will continue next weekend in Leeuwarden.

Samoilovs and Smedins triumph in Latvia

In Latvia, the 2018 Fort Lauderdale bronze medalists Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins won the National Championship in Ventspils. The pair had a comfortable 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) victory over Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs in the gold medal match. Estonians Kostas Nilvaks and Marts Tisārs finished third.

🔥 G O L D 🔥 in Latvian Championship Tour . . #SAMSME #MrLionKing #samoilovs #🏐 #volley #beachvolley #beachvolleyball #pludmalesvolejbols #volleyball #пляжка #пляжныйволейбол #pallavolo #voleibol #voleidepraia #tokyo2020 #olympics #fitlife #voleiplaya . . @smscredit.lv @betsafe @btalatvija @venden_latvija @lidolv @citysportlatvia @jurmalalv @best4sporttv @baker_nutrition @volejbolslv @semarahhotels @sportlandlv @lattelecomlv

911 Likes, 12 Comments - Aleksandrs Samoilovs (@samoilovs) on Instagram: "🔥 G O L D 🔥 in Latvian Championship Tour . . #SAMSME #MrLionKing #samoilovs #🏐 #volley #beachvolley..."