Moscow, Russia, August 11, 2019. The Men’s #EuroBeachVolley reached its climax on Sunday afternoon with the Norwegian top duo Anders Mol and Christian Sørum confirming themselves as the best team at the competition. They were crowned as champions for a second consecutive time after having claimed the title also in The Hague 2018. On Sunday, they disappointed the home heroes Konstantin Semenov/Ilya Leshukov storming to a 2-0 victory.
The venue at the famous Luzhniki complex became a scene to wonderful Beach Volleyball moments with more than 2,000 spectators watching the final game.
Before the Gold medal match a training match between the bronze medallists - Martin Ermacora/ Moritz Pristauz (AUT) and the Russian team Alexander Likholetov/Ruslan Bykanov, took place to warm up the atmosphere. The players helped keep the positive spirit and invited on the court also some of the girls – ball retrievers to play with them in front of the excited fans. Due to an ankle injury the Bronze medal match between Ermacora/Pristauz and Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak didn’t take place.
Mol, A./ Sørum vs Semenov/Leshukov 2- 0 (21-12, 21-18) – match statistics
A monster block by Semenov marked the opening of the match. It was a close call in the first minutes of the set, with both teams following each other in the result. Both sides showed good play in defense in these moments and the spectators enjoyed some great rallies. The Norwegians were outclassing their opponents on the block in these moments, leading 14-10. They were able to build up a solid 7-points difference. Having lost their initial inspiration, the Russian duo could score only two more points until the end of the set, losing their rhythm.
The second set started also with a close game with the Norwegians maintaining a small difference. They made some service errors and Russia’s team tried to get closer in the score. However, Semenov and Leshukov also let some unforced errors affect them, while Mol and Sørum were precise at the moment of finishing the attacks. Despite the warm support from the tribunes at the venue, Semenov and Leshukov could not find a response to Mol’s blocks. The pressure on them got even bigger with the end of the set approaching, but they fought until the end, trying to change the situation. However, Mol and Sørum showed spirit of winners, keeping calm and closed the most important match of the competition in their favour.
After the match a nice awarding ceremony took place, closing this way the CEV EuroBeachVolley 2019.
The excited winners thanked the fans at the venue in Russian and talked to media afterwards: “Finals are always tough. To play a final against a Russian team, in Russia, is very special. We had a great match and it's amazing to be European Champions back to back. We really had to give it our all, because they are really, really good players and it is never easy to play against them. We have huge respect for them. Standing here today with the gold medals means a lot.”
The silver medallists Semenov and Leshukov also received a lot of attention and thanked everybody who believed in them during this jorney.
Ilya Leshukov after the match: “In the first set, the Norwegians outclassed us in all the components of the game – they were better at the service line, at reception, on block. They are currently the benchmark on how to be perfect at the block. In the second set they ‘read’ us - they were able to find the keys to resist to our attacks. We had our tactics, but unfortunately it didn’t work. Of course, we are upset, but at the same time we are glad that we were able to win silver medals. We want to thank all the fans who believed in us until the end.”
Semenov added: “We did a good job, we are pleased with what we showed. Of course, it would have been better to win gold, but we are happy also about grabbing the silver. We showed good Beach Volleyball, and we hope that the Moscow fans who were here today to support us, are pleased with what they have seen.”
Know more about #EuroBeachVolley on the official website of the event here.