Curtain comes down on Doha Elite 16
Doha: Stefan Boermans & Yorick de Groot upset big names (some even twice) to snatch the first men’s Elite16 gold of the season at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour stop in Doha and made a clear statement that they are ready to catch up with their Dutch compatriots and put up a fight in the race for their country’s two available tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris. Brazil’s Barbara Seixas & Carol Solberg grabbed the Doha trophy in the women’s tournament.
Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson and Sara Hughes & Kelly Cheng of the United States completed the women’s podium, while David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden and Anders Mol & Christian Sorum of Norway took silver and bronze, respectively, to climb the men’s podium.
The men’s gold medal match was a speedy one-sided affair. Sixth-seeded Boermans & De Groot hammered out a 2-0 (21-11, 21-10) shutout of the tournament’s top seeds Ahman & Hellvig. Boermans completely owned the net with nine kill blocks to finish with a match-high 17 points, including the match winner, which he spiked off of his own block reflection. Boermans & De Groot pocketed their first Beach Pro Tour gold as a pair. Out of their previous 10 appearances, they had one silver and one bronze. The 22-year-old Swedish jump-setters have not missed a final in already six consecutive major tournament participations and now their medal count on the Beach Pro Tour amounts to six golds, three silvers and one bronze.
“It feels incredible! To start the Olympic season with this result is really big for us,” De Groot told Volleyball World after the final.
“This tournament is a dream come true,” said Boermans. “This first place means so much. It means that we get a lot of points and cut the distance to our countrymen competitors, so it’s looking good for us now. We are not there yet, because we still need the 12 results obviously, but this helps so much. It’s a huge relief after all the hard work we’ve put in and the injuries we’ve had. It’s amazing to pull this off...”
Third-seeded Mol & Sorum made sure to get on the podium with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) victory over eighth-seeded Germans in the bronze medal game. Mol’s blocking made the big difference in the tight match. The Norwegian delivered as many as eight kill blocks towards an 18-point match high. The Beachvolley Vikings added the fourth bronze to their impressive Beach Pro Tour collection, which also features eight gold and four silver medals.
In the semifinals, Boermans & De Groot defeated the Olympic champions for the second time in this tournament, battling it out for a 2-0 (21-16, 22-20) shutout, while Ahman & Hellvig also beat Ehlers & Wickler for the second time this week, coming back from a set down to claim a 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-13) win.
Melissa & Brandie knocked out two powerful Brazilian pairs on the way to the final, but stopped short of beating a third one in the gold medal showdown. Seventh-seeded Barbara & Carol showed a solid performance against the fourth-seeded Canadians and mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) shutout to lift the trophy in the Qatari capital. Despite Melissa & Brandie’s more prolific spiking, the South Americans capitalized on better blocking and serving efforts and, most of all, on the opponents’ unforced errors to pick up their sixth gold and overall 11th medal on the Beach Pro Tour. It was, however, their first triumph at the Elite16 level.
“It feels amazing! I feel so happy!” exclaimed Barbara right after the match. “We are really proud of the work our team has been doing. We are training hard and preparing ourselves in every way we can, so we can evolve and bring the best volleyball that we can. Carol and I have a great energy together.”
“Barbara has been amazing. I have so much pleasure playing together with her. Our chemistry on the court is something that’s so special. We play volleyball, because we love to feel this energy, when we are on the court. It makes all the hard work that we do so worth it!” Carol added.
Barbara led the winners with 16 points, including two aces, in the final, while Brandie produced a match-high 17 points for the Canadian duo. Melissa & Brandie collected their first silver on the Tour. They also have two golds and a bronze on record.
In the women’s bronze medal match, third-seeded Hughes & Cheng outspiked Latvia’s Anastasija Samoilova & Tina Graudina on the way to a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) sweep, with Cheng on fire at the net with 23 kills in attack and two kill blocks, and from the serving line with two aces towards a fantastic match high of 27 points. For the reigning world champions, the Doha bronze was the pair’s first ever on the Beach Pro Tour. They also have five golds and a silver on their record.
The Latvians had cruised undefeated from the qualifiers to the semifinals, but the last competition day in Doha kind of spoiled Tina’s 26th birthday. Earlier in the day, they also lost their semifinal game. Melissa & Brandie got back at Anastasija & Tina for the defeat in the pool stage and claimed a 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-12) victory to move on to the final. The other semifinal was also resolved in a tie-breaker, with Carol & Barbara celebrating a 2-1 (21-11, 17-21, 15-12) win over the world champs.
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