01/09/2018 20:00
French teams triumphant in Montpellier, golden comeback for Rowlandson
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Montpellier
Montpellier, France, September 1, 2018. It was a truly triumphal day for French teams as the FIVB 1-Star/CEV Satellite in Montpellier ended on Saturday with players from the host country claiming four of the six medals at stake – and a clean sweep of the top honours as well as of the men’s podium.
Only teams from France and Switzerland were still in contention for the medals as the competition resumed on Saturday with the women’s semis. Home favourites Ophélie Lusson and Laura Longuet cancelled six set points and three match points at the end of the first and second sets, respectively, but eventually lost 16-21 and 22-24 to Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland. After starting their campaign in Tuesday’s qualification, the Swiss made it all the way to the gold medal match. However, it was not going to be an all-Swiss final since Alexandra Jupiter and Lézana Placette claimed a 2-0 victory (21-8, 25-23) in their semi-final with Nicole Eiholzer and Elena Steinemann.
Lusson and Longuet put up a real fight in the bronze medal match and easily won the second set, but Eiholzer/Steinemann eventually pulled out a 2-1 victory (22-20, 14-21, 15-6) to secure the third place.
Home favourites Alexandra Jupiter and Lézana Placette stand on top of the women’s podium in Montpellier
The final was a real delight for the crowd in attendance and a very close fight from start to end. However, Jupiter’s blocks contributed to a 2-1 (21-15, 12-21, 15-12) victory for her and Placette and the French team could triumph with the gold medals, while Böbner and Vergé-Dépré had to be content with the silver. Jupiter and Placette could start in the best way the qualification process towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. “We are very proud of having performed this way in front of our home audience,” they said. “With this medal, we have shown that we truly belong to the programme designed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We have to continue this way and claim more wins in the next stops of the World Tour.”
In the men’s semis, home favourites Youssef Krou and Quincy Ayé came from behind and made up for a slow start to edge their young Swiss opponents Florian Breer and Yves Haussener 15-21, 21-19, 15-10. The other semi-final was a French derby that lasted for three sets as well. It was a close match all the way until underdogs Edouard Rowlandson/Olivier Barthélémy edged last week’s gold medal winners in Siofok Romain Di Giantommaso and Jérémy Silvestre 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-10). “We start every match as relaxed as we can,” Rowlandson commented. “The most important for us is to have fun as long as we stay on the court. We will keep this very same mind-set because there is nothing as rewarding as playing the final of an international tournament.”
Golden boy: Edouard Rowlandson is back for good after two years away from the international scene
Di Giantommaso/Silvestre regrouped in the bronze medal match where they wasted as many as six match points in the second set but they ultimately beat Breer/Haussener 21-16, 25-27, 15-10 to secure their second World Tour medal in as many weeks. This way Di Giantommaso and Silvestre secured a complete French sweep of the men’s podium.
Many fans attended the all-French men’s final where Rowlandson and Barthélémy stormed to a landslide 21-15, 21-12 victory as Krou and Ayé could not find any response to the superb defence game of their opponents. This is a truly outstanding result for Rowlandson who crowned his comeback to the international scene after two years with a gold medal!
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