Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig, left, and Ukraine’s Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko, right, were the winners at the Under-21 Beach Volleyball World Championships ©Volleyball World

Ukraine’s Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko improved on their bronze medal at the International Volleyball Federation's Under-19 Beach Volleyball World Championships by triumphing in the women's under-21 competition on Bangtao Beach in Phuket.

Khmil and Lazarenko, both aged 18, beat the United States' Xolani Hodel and Katherine Reilly to finish third in the Thai venue last weekend, and belied their status as the 21st seeds to record a superb victory in the Under-21 World Championships.

Opponents and fourth seeds Daniela Álvarez and Sofía González of Spain had three match points the deciding tiebreak in the final, but Khmil and Lazarenko prevented them from getting over the line, and it was the Ukraine pair who triumphed 21-17, 18-21, 17-15.

The gold medallists won seven matches en route to victory, including impressive straight-sets wins against Russian third seeds Mariia Bocharova and Elizaveta Gubina and Swiss sixth seeds Menia Bentele and Leona Kernen.

Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig won the boys' beach volleyball event at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics ©Getty Images
Sweden's David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig won the boys' beach volleyball event at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics ©Getty Images

Bentele and Kernen went on to take the bronze medal, beating Latvia's Varvara Brailko and Anete Namiķe 21-11, 18-21, 15-11.

In the men's tournament, Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden came out on top after also playing the third seeds in the final.

They were seeded 13th and their gold-medal match against Italy’s Gianluca Dal Corso and Marco Viscovich also went to three sets, with the Swedish duo edging the contest 21-13, 17-21, 17-15.

Hellvig is aged 20, a landmark which Åhman will reach on his birthday tomorrow.

The pair did not drop a set on their way to the final, including a 23-21, 21-17 victory against the Czech Republic's Jakub Šépka and Tomáš Semerád in the last four.

Šépka and Semerád missed out on a place on the podium as they lost the bronze-medal match 28-26, 21-19 against Russia's Dmitrii Veretiuk and Aleksei Arkhipov.