Curtain comes down on 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals
Doha: The number two team in the men’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking, Sweden’s David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig, shut out chart-toppers and defending champions Anders Mol & Christian Sorum of Norway to win the 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals in Doha on Saturday. The Swedes improved their Beach Pro Tour medal collection to six golds, two silvers and a bronze.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champions Mol & Sorum added the fourth silver to their Tour showcase, which also features seven gold and three bronze medals.
Brazil’s Andre Stein & George Wanderley claimed the Doha Finals bronze, their seventh podium on the Beach Pro Tour.
The first set of the final was relatively one-sided and Ahman & Hellvig won it convincingly. In the second set, the lead went back and forth, but after 17-15 the Norwegians’ way, the Swedes managed to string up six points in a row, crowned with two back-to-back kill blocks by Hellvig in the last two rallies for a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) shutout. Hellvig finished with a total of three stuffs towards a match-high 18 points, while Ahman added another 15 points, including one ace. Sorum led the Norwegians with 17 spike kills, while master blocker Mol managed to achieve only a point in this element to tally a total of eight points.
The third-place match was also decided in straight sets. George & Andre left Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan off the podium with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) sweep, dominating the net in both offence (33-27 in spike kills) and blocking (5-1 in stuffs). Andre led the team with 23 points, including five kill blocks and one ace, while George registered 16 points, all in attack. Ahmed topped the charts with 24 points, including three serving aces.
Earlier on Saturday, both semifinals were decided in tie-breaker sets. First, Ahman & Hellvig mounted an impressive comeback from a set down against Cherif & Ahmed and disappointed the home crowd with a 2-1 (12-21, 21-18, 15-11) victory. Hellvig was on fire and contributed as many as seven kill blocks towards the match high of 25 points. Then, Mol & Sorum survived an opponent match point and an extended tie-breaker to squeeze out a 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 17-15) win over George & Andre. Mol owned the net and piled up eight kill blocks towards a 20-point tally, while Sorum spearheaded the team’s offence with 24 points, all in attack. Andre, on the other side of the net, put away a match-high 31 points.
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