09/11/2019 15:50
Italy, Japan secure top honours as historic Tel Aviv 1-Star event ends
2019 FIVB World Tour 1-Star - Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Israel, November 9, 2019. Kaho Sakaguchi and Reika Murakami of Japan emerged as the winners of the first, historic 1-Star FIVB World Tour event to take place in Tel Aviv, after they stormed to a 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) victory in the women’s final against Simone Marie Okholm Hansen and Line Trans Hansen of Denmark. In the men’s gold medal match, top-seeded Italians Samuele Cottafava and Jakob Windisch lived up to their status, as they delivered a terrific performance to record a 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) win over Martin Trans Hansen (Line’s brother) and Daniel Thomsen of Denmark.
“We did not expect to win this event, because these tournaments are always hard, and we started the preparations only three weeks ago, so we are not in our best shape, but we played exceptionally well, so we could win,” Windisch said. “It was not easy at all. It was a nice match, they played well, but we played better.”
Jakob Windisch and Samuele Cottafava of Italy celebrated in Tel Aviv their second FIVB World Tour triumph this year.
“The organisation and the venue were fantastic, and the sun was out the whole week, so it was great to play here,” Windisch commented about the event in Tel Aviv. It is the second World Tour gold medal for Windisch and Cottafava this year, since back in August they had topped the final standing of the 1-Star tournament held in Budapest, Hungary.
The bronze medals went the way of Russia’s Serguei Prokopiev/Aleksandr Kramarenko. They did not have to play the ‘small final’ against the local team Sean Faiga/Netanel Amiram Ohana. The Israelis could not participate in the crucial game, which could have secured Israel’s first ever medal from the FIVB World Tour, because Ohana was sick. The two almost got to the last act of the tournament in a heart-breaking semi-final, which they eventually lost at the hands of Trans Hansen and Thomsen, 1-2 (21-15, 19-21, 13-15).
Home stars Sean Faiga and Netanel Amiram Ohana were close to causing a sensation in Tel Aviv, but had to forfeit the bronze medal match due to Ohana feeling unwell.
Prokopiev, on the other hand, could not ask for a better return to international competition after a break of more than four years – he last competed in a World Tour event at the Grand Slam in Moscow back in 2015.
“We just finished the final, so we are kind of disappointed with how it came out,” said Line Trans Hansen after losing to Sakaguchi and Murakami. “The Japanese were very good, and we are super proud that we made it to the final. I have never seen such a good and cheering crowd; it was really nice to play here in front of all these people.”
Russia’s Ekaterina Syrtseva and Alexandra Moiseeva completed the podium following their 21-16, 21-19 victory over Eva Freiberger and Valerie Teufl of Austria in the bronze medal match.
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