Disentis, Switzerland, March 12, 2017. Snow Volleyball first-timers Kim Huber/Karin Kurzbein from Switzerland came out on top in their spectacular five-set final match against the top-seeded Czech duo Anna Dostalova/Michaela Knoblochova to triumph with the women’s gold medal at the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour stop in Disentis. The home snow in the Swiss Alps brought the host country a historic first title on the Tour in either gender.
Following their two straight-set losses to the more experienced Czech opponents on Saturday, Huber/Kurzbein persevered through their underdog status and five tough sets in Sunday’s 52-minute battle on the snow to emerge victorious with a 3-2 (11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-13, 11-8) win.
Cheered enthusiastically on by the home crowd on the sunny slopes of Disentis, Huber/Kurzbein established domination in the first set and took it with a solid difference. Gaining self-confidence, they continued their strong performance in the second set and, after an extended 12-10, saw themselves with a two-set lead.
However, Dostalova and Knoblochova did not intend to give up. They took control on the court to win the third set by 11-8. In the fourth set, the Czech athletes showed an incredibly strong character, coming back from 8-10, saving the double match point for the opponents and eventually tying the match with a 13-11 win.
When everyone thought that the pre-favourites were up for a complete turnaround, it was the Swiss girls’ turn to show some character. Re-gaining control, they pushed through to the eventual 11-8 to rejoice with the gold.
“It feels amazing! I could cry right now,” exclaimed Karin Kurzbein immediately after the winning point. “We did not expect it, but it came out perfectly. It was a fight. Both teams played really well and it was an awesome game. It is nice that we could win.
“Sometimes it is an advantage to be the underdog,” Kim Huber added. “We were just lucky, we played our best and it’s very nice! Our ambition was to just play well. We started really well, we went two sets ahead and then our knees became a little bit shaky - we did not believe that much in ourselves. And then in the fifth set we could win again and we feel awesome!”
The bronze medals went to Germany’s Esther Luft/Sarah Bauer.
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