13/06/2016 00:43
Poland’s rising stars Kosiak/Rudol claim top honours at Baden Satellite
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Baden
Baden, Austria, June 12, 2016. Poland’s Maciej Kosiak and Maciej Rudol claimed on Sunday the gold medal in the men’s competition of the 2016 CEV Baden Satellite after a stunning performance in the final match with Norway’s Bjarte Usken and Oivind Hordvik (21-15, 21-15).
This was quite a performance by the second-seeded team of the tournament that was once again successfully organised in the outskirts of Vienna. “We are very happy with this result. After losing in the qualification round of the Major Series in Hamburg we played a great tournament here,” Kosiak said. The Poles have expressed their intention to come back next year: “The organisation of this tournament is just perfect and we will come back for sure,” Rudol said.
Austria’s Huber/Seidl end up in fourth place
Austria did not win a medal at this year’s Baden Satellite. Home heroes Alexander Huber and Robin Seidl had to be content with fourth place after losing their semi-final as well as the bronze medal match. “Of course we are disappointed but it is better to lose such close matches now than in two weeks,” Huber said referring to the final stage of the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup that they will soon contest in Stavanger, Norway and where a spot to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics will be at stake.
The matches they lost on Sunday were indeed close ones. Huber/Seidl were side-lined by a disastrous start in their semi-final with Kosiak/Rudol where they quickly trailed 5-0 in the first set. After losing that one, they fought back in the second but ended up losing a thrilling tie-break. The Austrians could not use any of their six match balls and eventually Kosiak/Rudol won the tie-break 27-25.
In the bronze medal match, on the other hand, Huber and Seidl fought bravely but Poland’s Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak pulled out a 21-11, 26-24 win to settle for third place.
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