Lausanne, Switzerland, June 29, 2014.  The CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite Lausanne ended crowning the Polish duo Maciej Kosiak / Maciej Rudol. The silver medals went to Germany’s Tim Holler / Jonas Schroeder.  Swiss Sebastian Chevallier / Alexei Strasser, seeded at #1, finished third.  The 25th anniversary of the tournament, placed under the 90’s style theme, witnessed an exceptional atmosphere thanks to the public coming in numbers to Lausanne.

The tournament ended this Sunday with a striking victory of the Polish pair composed of Maciej Kosak and Maciej Rudol, who recently became the 2014 U23 world champions, at the completion of a very tight game – 3:1 (11-15, 15-13, 15-13, 15-8).  The German team of Tim Holler / Jonas Schroeder has indeed challenged the Poles during the whole game.

In the first game of the last competition day, the pre-favorite duo, starring Sebastien Chevallier and Alexei Strasser from Switzerland, lost against the eventual gold medalists, even if they had beaten them before in the tournament.  Kosiak / Rudol won this semifinal by 3:1 (15-13, 10-15, 15-11, 15-11).

"The Polish team played at a very high level this morning and we were not concentrated enough,” Seba Chevallier explains.  “However, we are delighted with this third place as we are highly satisfied with our performance versus the powerful Italians,” he concluded in regards to the bronze medal match against Matteo Cecchini / Matteo Martino, which the Swiss pair won by 3:0 (15-6, 15-11, 15-9).

Before that, the Italians had lost their semifinal match to the Germans by 1:3 (14-16, 15-12, 13-15, 19-21).

It is interesting to note that among the top four teams in the final ranking three duos had not been pre-seeded directly into the main draw and came through the qualifications, demonstrating the increasing competition in European beach volleyball.

The public came in numbers following the appearance of the sun for the two finals.  The spectators secured an atmosphere worthy of the biggest beach volleyball tournaments, thanks to the show delivered by the players but also by the organizers.

Tournament Director Pierre-Andre Leuenberger expressed his delight:  “We benefited from exceptional conditions this year in terms of weather, but also the game level and the public is here.  Our local team, the #1 seeded Chevallier / Strasser, made it beautifully onto the podium confirming the great work they have been doing throughout the year.”