Malbun, Liechtenstein, April 2, 2017. One of the very rare occasions when tiny Liechtenstein win a continental-level gold medal at any sport occurred on Sunday in Malbun, when Manuel Gahr/Maximilian von Deichmann triumphed with the title at the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour stop on home snow.
In a scenario, similar to the one from the previous stop in Slovenia, the home pair played the maximum possible number of nine matches in the tournament, heroically passing through all five legs of the losers’ bracket, and eventually made it to the top of the podium. The 14th-seeded Liechtenstein team lost only one of their games in Malbun – the second-round clash with Switzerland’s Raphael Zurgilgen/Christian Busin, seeded in #3.
On Sunday morning alone, Gahr/von Deichmann had to win three matches in a row, including a dramatic 2-1 (12-10, 6-11, 12-10) victory over second-seeded Poles Piotr Groszek/Tomasz Cwiertnia that gave them a spot in the semi-finals. In the early afternoon, the Liechtensteiners continued their winning streak with a come-from-behind 2-1 (11-13, 11-9, 11-5) victory over another team from Poland – top-seeded Michal Matyja/Piotr Janiak, and qualified for the grand finale.
In the big clash for the gold, Gahr/von Deichmann were cheered on by numerous spectators, who filled up the stands around centre court. Inspired by the support of the home crowd, they won the first two sets against Germany’s Jens Ellmrich/Maik Winkler. The second set was a true spectacle for the fans and lasted until 24-22, thus becoming the longest set in the history of the CEV European Tour for both genders. The 11th-seeded Germans fought back to tie the match and prompt a decisive tie-breaker, but in the fifth set the Liechtensteiners established complete domination on the court and rejoiced with a phenomenal 3-2 (11-6, 24-22, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3) victory.
“It is an awesome feeling! Perfect weekend, perfect weather, despite the forecast! So many people came and cheered for us. It was really good!” said an elated Manuel Gahr after the last rally of the final. “This was the first time I played on snow. The first two matches were horrible – it did not feel right. With each game we got better and when we increased our level was really cool.”
The bronze medals went to Matyja/Janiak, who mastered a speedy 2-0 (11-8, 11-1) win against Zurgilgen/Busin in the third-place match.
For further information on the European Tour, click here or visit SnowVolleyball.com.