Jurmala, Latvia, September 20, 2020. While the women’s side of the draw has been unpredictable, the men’s tournament at EuroBeachVolley 2020 seems to have been marching towards the inevitable: a showdown in the finals between the top two ranked volleyball teams in the world. There are not too many times you could have said that at a European Championships, but the new generation of stars coming out of Europe has made the argument that the power balance has shifted away from the Americas for the men.
The Beach Volley Vikings have been comfortably dominant the entire tournament, and haven’t dropped a single set so far. A win in Jurmala would mean their third straight European Championship gold, the third team that would have accomplished this feat. “We are getting closer. One more win and we will have three golds. We are super happy that we can still play a tournament this year. It’s amazing to be in the final, I am super happy,” said Christian Sorum.
While Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy have hit some small roadblocks, they were clear favourites to push for the finals as well, defeating compatriots Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv in the semifinals to get there. They would be the first Russian winners of EuroBeachVolley, for the men.
The last time these two teams played was in the Rome World Tour Finals in September of last year, where the Russians squeaked out a tiebreak win in a match that will be remembered for its competitiveness and staggering level of play at the net. “It was a very tough match for us,” said Stoyanovskiy. “We lost the first set, then we changed our strategy and outplayed them.”
Stoyanovskiy and Mol are both two of the best blockers on the beach right now, with Oleg standing at 207cm with a huge wingspan and Anders standing at 200cm with blazing fast footwork and a huge vertical leap.
But the guys behind them are just as good. Christian Sorum has all the quickness and defensive ability of a libero while possessing the size and attacking prowess of a frontline player. Viacheslav Krasilnikov has never met a ball he can’t track down or a block he can’t tool. This is the biggest beach volleyball match of the year.
The two teams play at 18:00 CET tonight and you can watch the match on eurovolley.tv.