Knokke-Heist, Belgium, August 18, 2019. The very last day of the historic FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event started at 10 o’clock, giving both the athletes and the fans a chance for a longer rest, compared to the previous competition days at the Belgian seaside. With eight matches to play, eight teams were eager to go for gold, but only two teams were able to make the dream come true and these were Jérémy Silvestre/Timothée Platre of France and Claudia Galindo/Andrea Galindo of Colombia.
Emi van Driel/Raïsa Schoon from the Netherlands, seeded as the favourites of the tournament took on sisters Claudia and Andrea Galindo from Colombia. The Dutchies already showed their skills the last two days and were extremely motivated to succeed and get a final spot as reward. As the Colombian team did not fly all the way to Belgium for some friendly game, they put on a big fight and won 2-0 (21-17, 21-18).
Catry/Vandesteene fighting on home sand
The second semi-final could count on many fans as the Belgian team Maud Catry/Els Vandesteene tried to make Belgian Beach Volleyball history by claiming a place in the finals. Opponents were the two Danish girls Cecilie Køllner Olsen/Sofia Nørager Bisgaard. The DJ tried to get the crowd into supporting the Belgians as Denmark closed the first set with a seven point advantage. Catry/Vandesteene fought their way back and forced a decisive third set. Olsen/Bisgaard, however, took control of this set from the beginning to secure their spot into the top 2 with a 2-1 (21-14, 18-21, 15-10) win.
In the men's competition the home hopes were embodied by Tim Lemmens/Anshel Ver Eecke, who ended second in the race for the Belgian Championship title the week before and took on the challenge of the confident Russians Alexey Gusev/Pavel Shustrov in the semis. The Russian team had come to Belgium focused on their goal and that could be seen in their play and the eventual win to go to the finals 2-0 (21-14, 21-17).
The eventual champions from France - Silvestre/Platre
The second semi-final was a good old European Battle - France against Austria. This might have been the closest game of the day with many people in the stands supporting both teams, as they put on a very nice show. But at the end, Silvestre/Platre were just too strong for the Austrians Maximilian Trummer/Mathias Seiser 2-1 (21-17, 21-23, 15-13).
The Belgian crowd had two options for celebrating a bronze medal, both home teams starting the game as underdogs. Rather sadly for the audience, the Dutch and Austrian duos were stronger and thus created a bitter-sweet ending for the home teams.
Both finals were tiebreak thrillers. The teams had analysed each other very well, so tactics became an important item to secure the gold medals. Both games had full support of the fans, who really enjoy seeing games of this level. As Colombia succeeded in their goal of playing a great game, they were awarded with a win against Denmark. They took spot 1 on the podium in three sets 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-10).
As France won the first set against Russia, they were very close to winning the final in straight sets. Just at the end of the set, the Russians pushed through, forcing a tiebreak. Great rallies, big defences and hard spikes, first to 15… But even that wasn’t enough. France pushed and fought their way onto a matchpoint at 16-15 and closed the tournament a point later, taking home gold with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 17-15) victory.
Click here for further information on the tournament.