AMERICAN AND POLISH TEAMS LIFT BEACH PRO TOUR ELITE16 HAMBURG TITLES

Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint record first podium for US at Elite16 while Poles Micahl Bryl and Bartosz Losiak win epic men’s final
The USA’s Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint and Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl of Poland triumphed at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Hamburg.
In front of a packed Rothenbaum area and with the iconic roof of the stadium closed, two high quality finals wowed the crowd on Sunday afternoon.
In beating Swiss pair Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner in straight sets (21-18, 21-19), Cheng and Flint became the first American team to win an Elite16 medal.
“Our goal is Paris 2024, so this is an awesome stepping stone. It’s great for our team to have our first international win because that’s the main focus. So it’s incredible, it’s fun to celebrate, but we have a ton of work to do going forward,” defender Flint, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Saturday, told Volleyball World.
Blocker Cheng said: “I want to win a gold medal every tournament I go to, so this is just great. It’s also very nice to see all of our hard work pay off. When all the pieces start coming together, it gets really exciting.
“Now, for the rest of the year, it’s cleaning up things, working on consistency and trying to beat everyone on Tour all the time. We want to dominate the Beach Pro Tour, so that’s what we are working towards and I think we have the capabilities. It’s about being consistent, taking care of the opportunities that we create for ourselves and having fun along the way.”
Men’s gold medalists Losiak and Bryl battled through two rounds of qualification to take their first Elite16 title – and their fourth of the 2022 Beach Pro Tour campaign after winning three Challenge events.
The Poles edged a dramatic one-hour six-minute marathon 21-18, 16-21, 29-27 against Dutch duo Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.
“The entire time we believed that we could finish this game and I am really proud of our team,” blocker Bryl told Volleyball World. “I hope with this experience the next tournament may be easier for us. All is good and Bartosz and I will keep working together.”
Defender Losiak added: “I think we had a very good performance here. We started from the qualification and played a lot of matches. We are very tired, but when you are winning, you don’t feel the pain.
“I think this partnership was a good change for both of us. It gives me more energy and I am enjoying my time with Michal inside the court.”
Hosts scoop both bronze medals
Backed by a passionate home crowd, the two German sides competing in the bronze medal matches secured the final places on the podium.
In the women’s race for third, Karla Borger and Julia Sude fought back from losing the first set and trailing in the second to record a 10-21, 23-21, 15-11 win over Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas of Brazil.
A few hours later, Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler overcame a first-set deficit to beat the Netherlands’ Stefan Boermans and Matthew Immers 23-21, 21-18.
The next port of call on the Elite16 level is Paris, where the iconic Rolland Garros venue awaits the world’s best between 28 September and 2 October.
For more information, news, events and results, visit the Beach Pro Tour website. For highlights from Hamburg, visit Volleyball World TV.
Information and photo source : International Volleyball Federation
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