Quiggle/Rice and Huerta/Bello Queens & Kings of Hamburg 2025

Queen & King of the Court Hamburg 2025 is officially in the books and it exceeded all expectations. Two thrilling finals kept the crowd on the edge of their seats, with Corinne Quiggle and Megan Rice, and Alejandro Huerta and Joaquin Bello taking the crowns as the new Queens & Kings of Hamburg.

Quiggle/Rice steal the show with comeback in women’s final
The evening began with the women’s final, featuring five strong teams: Austria’s Klinger/Klinger, the Netherlands’ Piersma/Sonneville, New Zealand’s Polley/Macdonald, and two American teams: Quiggle/Rice and Hildreth/Van Gunst. The first round was close, with the Klinger sisters narrowly eliminating Hildreth/Van Gunst. In the next elimination round, Polley/Macdonald edged past Piersma/Sonneville by just a single point.

The final round looked like a runaway for the Austrian duo. The Klinger sisters surged to a dominant lead, quickly reaching 10 points while the other teams struggled to get past one. But Quiggle and Rice had other plans. With five minutes remaining, the Americans mounted a stunning comeback, collecting point after point from the Queen side. With just 90 seconds left, they drew level with the Austrians. In the final minute, Quiggle and Rice pulled ahead to secure the win. It was one of the most thrilling women’s finals in Queen & King of the Court history, a match absolutely worth rewatching. For Quiggle, this marks her third podium finish at a Queen & King event, after bronzes in Rotterdam 2023 with Schermerhorn-Murphy and in Tenerife this year with Chloe Loreen.

Huerta and Bello rise to the top in the men’s final
The excitement continued into the men’s final, though it kicked off without home favourites Ehlers/Wickler, who were knocked out earlier that day in the semifinals. Still, the Hamburg crowd had another German duo to cheer for: Henning and Wüst. But their run came to a quick end, eliminated in the first round. That left four teams in the race for the crown: Brouwer/Van de Velde (Netherlands), Plavins/Fokerots (Latvia), the Grimalt cousins (Chile) and the Spanish-English duo, Alejandro Huerta and Joaquin Bello.

The Dutch couldn't find their rhythm and exited in fourth place after scoring just one point in the second round. The final round remained wide open for minutes, with no team able to take control. The score stayed tight until the final moments. Huerta and Bello eventually found their edge, pulling ahead just enough to secure the lead and never let it slip. With that, they claimed the title of Kings of Hamburg 2025. For Huerta it’s a familiar feeling, he also stood on top of the podium in Utrecht last year, then paired with Christoph Dressler. For Joaquin Bello, who usually competes alongside his twin brother Javier, this was his first-ever King of the Court victory.

Hamburg sets the stage for Utrecht
Queen & King of the Court Hamburg marked the second stop of the Crown Series, which kicked off earlier this year in Tenerife. This edition drew over 20,000 unique viewers on the global livestream and was broadcast live in nearly 90 countries. The tour continues in four weeks in Utrecht, where the world’s best beach volleyball players will compete once again from June 19 to 22. Fans can follow all the highlights through the official Queen & King of the Court channels (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and watch.kingofthecourt.com).