BEACH GOLD FOR SWEDEN AND GERMANY IN DUBAI CHALLENGE FINAL

Jump-setting Swedes David Ahman and Jonathan Hellvig win men’s gold while and Julia Sude and Isabel Schneider claim first victory in women’s event

The second Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Dubai ended in glory for David Ahman and Jonathan Hellvig and Julia Sude and Isabel Schneider as the two sides took gold on the final day of breathless competition on the city’s Kite Beach.

Swedes Hellvig, 21, and 20-year-old Ahman arrived as top seeds in the competition following a successful summer that saw them crowned European champions.

In Dubai, the youngsters were in top form, winning all six matches and dropping just one set with their gold medal coming courtesy of a 21-17, 21-12 victory over Argentinian brothers Nicolas and Tomas Capogrosso in the final.

“It sure feels amazing to be here and manage to win,” Ahman said after the final. “It’s been tough and really warm, but we made it. We always try to have fun and that definitely helps us. We do our thing and play our style of volleyball. When we do that well, it’s both fun and it works.”

Hellvig added: “Argentina are a really tough team to play against. They hit really hard and really high, so it’s hard to stop them when they get to the net. I think the key for us was that we managed to put some pressure on the serve, so they could not get the best opportunities to hit.”

There was another medal for the USA after their gold in the previous event, with Taylor Crabb and Paul Lotman securing third place on the podium. The Americans saw off the challenge of Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Leo Dillier 21-15, 21-18.

Schneider wins first international gold

Sude and Schneider finished fifth in the first event last week – the first time the pair were on the same side of the sand together – and the experienced German duo secured their first gold medal of their new partnership thanks to a straight sets (21-17, 21-14) victory over Americans Madelyne Anderson and Molly Turner.

For Schneider, it was the defender’s first international gold medal of a career that started on the World Tour back in 2013.

“It’s unbelievable,” said the 31-year-old. “I had a couple of semi-finals before, but I worked hard to get her [the medal] and I am super happy that we could win this. I already saw the medal and I was like, ‘yeah, I want this!’, and now I have no words, to be honest.”

Sude, who added to her bronze medal won at the Hamburg Elite 16 earlier this season, said: “It is a little bit unreal. I think it was the first match we started pushing from the beginning. We had a lot of three-set battles, so we were very prepared for another hard battle, but it turned out better than expected.”

The bronze medal match was a repeat of last week’s – but there were different victors this time as Thailand’s Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat took home the hardware for third place, beating Katie Horton and Julia Scoles of the USA 21-10, 21-18.

Next up on the Beach Pro Tour

Cape Town is the next destination on the Beach Pro Tour with an eagerly anticipated Elite 16 event starring a host of big name players beginning in South Africa between 3-6 November.

The next Challenge event on the Beach Pro Tour calendar is the Red Sea competition, in Egypt, between 17-20 November.

Information and photo source : International Volleyball Federation