Wednesday 25 / December / 2024
Muscat: Unbeaten German duo of Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms upset Iranian top seeds Rahman Raoufi and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun to take the top honours in the Muscat 1 Star FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Al Musannah on Saturday.
On a day when Omani team of Nouh Al Jalbubi and Mazin Al Hashmi settled for the fourth place in the first ever World Tour event to be organised in the Sultanate, second seeded Bergmann and Harms capped their unbeaten run in the tournament with their maiden Tour gold medal.
According to news posted on the FIVB website, Italy’s Tiziano Andreatta and Andrea Abbiati, who came into the main draw from Wednesday’s qualification tournament, defeated Omani rookies Nouh Al Jalbubi and Mazin Al Hashmi in the bronze medal match.
In the gold medal match, Bergmann and Harms delivered a 21-18, 21-11 shutout of Raoufi and Salemi. In the first set, the Iranians held up through 18-18, but three points in a row for the Germans followed as Bergmann found the empty spot on the opposite half of the court to close it off at 21-18.
The second set was much quicker as the European side quickly broke away and never looked back. It was once again Bergmann who managed to overcome the Iranian block to score the last point for 21-11.
The third place match was a similar affair – a very competitive first set and a one-sided second on the way to Andreatta and Abbiati’s 21-19, 21-9 victory.
The lead went back and forth in the first half of the first set, but the second half went under Italian control. Still, Nouh and Mazin saved the first three of four consecutive match points, before Abbiati converted the fourth one to a 21-19 close.
At 7-6 Italy’s way was the last time the score was so close in the second set. Andreatta and Abbiati opened a wide gap while the Omanis could not offer much of a resistance. With a powerful shot through the middle Andreatta shaped up the win at 21-9.
Earlier, the semifinal between the Iranians and the Omanis was a hard-fought, but straight-set affair where Raoufi and Salemi won 21-19, 21-15 in 44 minutes.
The semifinal between Bergmann and Harms and Andreatta and Abbiati was the day’s only three-setter in which the eventual champions advanced with a 21-14, 16-21, 15-9 victory.
