29/08/2020 20:00
Youth Olympic champions make history for Sweden in Montpellier
2020 World Tour 1-Star - Montpellier
Montpellier, France, August 29, 2020. Rising Beach Volleyball stars Jonatan Hellvig/David Åhman of Sweden claimed on Saturday the gold medal from the World Tour 1-Star event held in Montpellier, after securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory (18-21, 21-17, 15-9) in the ‘grand finale’ against home stars Quincy Ayé and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat of France. This is the first time ever a Swedish team has taken top honours at a World Tour stop. Dutch qualifiers Leon Luini and Matthew Immers capped their memorable week with a bronze medal.
After defeating the hottest favourites of the tournament, Chilean cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt in the quarterfinals on Friday, the young Swedes progressed to the final courtesy of a 21-18, 21-18 victory over Timothée Platre and Arnaud Loiseau of France in the semis. The 2018 Youth Olympic champions were able to resist an attempted comeback by the French tandem in the second set. Last year’s Montpellier silver medallists Ayé and Gauthier-Rat needed 33 minutes only to claim the second semi-final against Luini and Immers (21-16, 21-13).
From the qualification round to the bronze medal: Dutchmen Leon Luini and Matthew Immers could not be any happier!
Luini and Immers, who had started their journey in Montpellier from the qualification round, do not leave France empty-handed. The Dutchmen regrouped and showed much fighting spirit in the bronze medal match, where they came from behind in the second set to seal a 21-19, 24-22 victory after cancelling two set points for Platre and Loiseau. This is a truly amazing accomplishment for the young Dutch duo, with Immers being a silver medal winner from the 2018 Youth Olympics with former partner Yorick de Groot. Immers and Luini secured another medal for the Netherlands in Montpellier after last year Dirk Boehlé and Stefan Boermans had claimed gold.
The fans enjoyed a great final match, with Ayé and Gauthier-Rat taking the first set but the hosts ran out of fuel, trailing 0-6 in the decisive tiebreak. The hosts fought hard but Hellvig/Åhman triumphed in the end, after wasting as many as four match points.
David Åhman in action as the young Swede and partner Jonatan Hellvig make history for the Scandinavian country in Montpellier
David and Jonatan make history as the first men’s team from Sweden to claim a World Tour gold medal: “Thanks to the public in Montpellier, it is a really nice place to play. We are delighted to have beaten Chile yesterday and France today in this final, which was undoubtedly our toughest match of the week,” they said.
Despite the setback and obvious disappointment, the French players showed good mood. Arnaud Gauthier-Rat: “The Swedes were really better than us today. We will quickly get back to work for the European Championships in Latvia next month.” “We were keeping the rhythm high but we somehow lost it in the end. This is our second consecutive silver medal here in Montpellier but I can promise that one day we will win that elusive gold!” Ayé commented.
Watch the final match through the CEV's YouTube channel:
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