Bialokoz and Batrane win Silver in China

Freddie Bialokoz and Issa Batrane secured a silver medal at the Beach Pro Tour Futures event in Wuhan, China, wrapping up a strong week of performances on the sand.

The British duo were edged out in the final by Slovakia’s Nemec and Petruf, falling 2-0 (21-18, 21-15), but wrapped up their first Beach Pro Tour Medal of the 2025 season. 

After a tough start to the tournament with a 2-1 loss (21-19, 18-21, 15-8) to the Hungarian pair of Dóczi and Stréli, the English duo bounced back in style, stringing together three straight-set wins before pulling off a dramatic comeback in the semi-finals.

Their turnaround began with a solid 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) win over the American pairing of Brewington and Goodwin, booking their place in the knockout rounds. From there, Freddie and Issa hit their stride, dispatching China’s Liu Y. and Mao Yuan dominantly, 2-0 (21-8, 21-11), in the round of 12.

That momentum carried into the quarter-finals, where they overcame Thailand’s N. Banlue and K. Dunwinit with a composed 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) performance, showing control in the big moments and refusing to let the match slip away.

In front of a home crowd, their biggest test came in the semi-finals against Chinese home talent Jiaxin Wu and Ch. W. Zhou. After dropping the opening set 21-19, Bialokoz and Batrane dug deep, raising their level and flipping the match on its head. They took the next two sets 21-18, 15-10. 

This set up a final with the Slovakians, who were just too strong for the British pair. However, this result nets them 340 points and they now rank 71st in the world with the hopes of making it to the European Championships in Germany at the end of July.