NORWAY & NETHERLANDS SERVE UP WINS AT BEACH PRO TOUR IN ROLAND GARROS

It’s game set and match for Anders Mol and Christian Sørum and Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam following historic victories in Paris

Reigning Olympic and world champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum denied the Netherlands double gold on the final day of the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 at the first ever beach volleyball event held at Roland Garros.

After Dutch duo Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam had stormed to the women’s title, the Vikings put the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen to the sword in the men's final before a 4,000-strong crowd on Court Phillipe Chatrier.

Norwegians Mol and Sørum were back to their superb best in the French capital in a season beset by injury and illness, winning the final 21-19, 21-18 and their second Beach Pro Tour event of the 2022 campaign.

“We have a season of ups and downs. Winning the world championships – which was big for us – was always our main goal, but we have had to deal with things for other reasons so it’s good to be back,” said Mol – who produced four block astonishing points in a row midway through the second set.

“It’s of course good to win gold, but what’s great and what’s most important is that we’re back with our feet in the sand and we’re healthy and happy.”

Sørum (left) and Mol celebrate in the locker room at Roland Garros

For Brouwer and Meeuwsen it was silver again after the pair were losing finalists in the previous Elite 16 event in Hamburg in August.

Bronze went to Italians and Jurmala Elite 16 winners Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava after a straight sets (21-16, 21-16) victory over Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt, the Gstaad Elite 16 champions.

All smiles for the birthday girls

Dutch youngsters Stam and Schoon had an early birthday to celebrate after their gold medal match victory over recently crowded European champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova.

The duo, who share a birthday on 3 October, were in top form to take down their Latvian opponents in straight sets 22-20, 21-16.

After the game – in what was a re-match of the Rosarito Elite 16 final that was also won by the team from the Netherlands – 4,000 fans inside Roland Garros crowd serenaded the rising stars with a rendition of Happy Birthday.

“It was a special moment, and I would never have dreamt that we would have so many people wishing us happy birthday – I mean it’s special in the first case that we have birthdays on the same day,” said blocker Stam, who turns 24 on Monday.

Schoon, who will celebrate her 21st birthday, added: “We are so proud. We fought so hard and to win is amazing. We said to each other we’ve got to keep fighting for the points until the last one falls on the other side of the net.”

Stam (left) and Schoon both celebrate their birthday on Monday

The bronze went to the reigning world champions, Brazilians Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva, who defeated the United States pair Betsy Flint and Kelly Cheng – the Hamburg Elite 16 winners – 21-12, 13-21, 15-8. The bronze is the South American pair’s third Elite 16 medal of the season having won gold in Gstaad and bronze in Jurmala.

The Beach Pro Tour continues with a Challenge event in the Maldives between 13-16 October before the Elite 16 brings the best players in the world to Cape Town, South Africa, between 2-6 November.

Information and photo source : International Volleyball Federation