20/05/2018 19:17
Basta and Kolaric make history for Serbia at 1-Star Aydin Open
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Aydin
Aydin, Turkey, May 20, 2018. Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric claimed a historic gold medal for Serbia following their triumph in the ‘grand finale’ of the men’s competition at the 1-Star Aydin Open in Turkey. It is the first-ever gold medal for Serbia on the World Tour since the start of men’s competition back in 1987 in Rio de Janeiro. They were brave enough to come back from one set down and an 18-20 deficit in the second to secure a 2-1 victory over Iran’s Rahman Raoufi/Abolhamed Mirzaali. Russia’s Ruslan Bykanov and Maksim Hudyakov completed the podium following their victory in the bronze medal match with Turkey’s Safa Urlu and Hasan Hüseyin Mermer.
The final was a real delight for the audience with the Iranians displaying an extremely solid defence game as Basta/Kolaric responded with their powerful attacks. Raoufi and Mirzaali were rather unknown going into this tournament but they had impressed throughout the previous stages of the competition. They won the first set 21-16 and claimed a 20-18 lead in the second, so they were only one point away from a historic triumph. However, Basta and Kolaric were able to fight their way back and eventually won the set 25-23. The third set was a dramatic affair too where Serbia came back again to emerge victorious at 16-14.
Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric celebrate their historic triumph in Aydin
“It was a very long match and our game no. 25 in three weeks,” Kolaric said afterwards. “We did not have any time to practice in the meantime, so we feel literally exhausted. Iran had excellent defence and it felt like it was simply impossible to score at times. We decided to focus on our defence game as well and we eventually made it to the tiebreak. It was something like our tenth tiebreak and we had not lost any going into this game. I am happy with the victory and proud of what we achieved together with my partner.”
Last week Kolaric and Basta had made history for Serbia with their second-place finish at the 3-Star event in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Bronze medal winners Maksim Hudyakov and Ruslan Bykanov of Russia
With temperatures up to 35 degrees, home stars Urlu/Mermer played Bykanov and Hudyakov for a spot on the podium. Despite the support from the crowd, the Turkish team could not stop the march of the Russian side as Bykanov and Hudyakov celebrated a 23-21, 21-14 victory to secure the bronze medals. “We are happy with the result; it is not excellent, yet it is good for us. We loved the Turkish crowd, as they are so passionate and enthusiastic. The Turkish Federation chose the right place where to host such an event. We will now continue our season with the event that will be taking place in Alanya in two weeks,” Hudyakov said.
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