16/07/2017 18:56
Walkenhorst’s monster blocks pave the way to gold for Germany in Siófok
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Siófok
%20and%20Martin%20Ermacora%20(AUT)%20res.jpg)
Siófok, Hungary, July 16, 2017. Germany’s Lorenz Schümann and Alexander Walkenhorst are the eventual winners of the CEV Satellite held in Siófok this week – a result, which accounts for their second medal from a CEV tournament in as many weeks, since last Sunday they finished third in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Schümann and Walkenhorst beat Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz of Austria in the gold medal match 2-1 (13-21, 21-18, 15-9), with Alex Walkenhorst making the difference with some monster blocks towards the end of the tiebreak. After four exciting and busy days, everyone was happy with the organisation and delivery of the first CEV Satellite to have taken place on Hungarian soil.
As many as three German-speaking teams had progressed to the semis and the gold medal match was a German-Austrian affair, since France’s Maxime Thiercy and Romain Di Giantommaso lost in three sets the first semi-final to Schümann and Walkenhorst. Ermacora and Pristauz, on the other hand, claimed the Austrian derby with Florian Schnetzer and Daniel Müllner in the other semi-final.
Thiercy and Di Giantommaso eventually settled for bronze as they beat Schnetzer/Müllner 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) to add something more to celebrate for France – on Saturday Alexia Richard and Margaux Carrère had taken gold in the women’s tournament.
The final was a truly exciting match, with the Austrians comfortably winning the first set before Schümann/Walkenhorst responded in the same way to level the match at the end of the second. The tiebreak was a real drama with the score remaining close up to 9-all before Walkenhorst scored four blocks in a row to pave the way towards gold for Germany. The match finished shortly afterwards, since Pristauz received the next German service but the ball flew straight off the court.
Walkenhorst and Schümann commented after the medal ceremony: “It was a great tournament and the atmosphere was especially good. Siófok is a very nice place and we are happy to have won this tournament. We remained focussed on our game from start to end of the final and this eventually produced a victory for us.”
Schümann has won as many as three medals from CEV events this season since back in June he finished third at the Baden Masters together with Julius Thole.
Click here for further information
|