Bangkok, Thailand, May 13, 2018 – Japan’s Yusuke Ishijima and Takumi Takahashi used their inherent skills of defence to beat Austria’s Daniel Mullner/Florian Schnetzer 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) in the men’s gold medal match of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Bangkok 1-star at the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology on Sunday.
Takahashi/Gottsu played active on defence, giving them counter-attacking opportunities that stunned Mullner/Schnetzer in the opening set at 21-15. After a series of deadlocks and lead changes, the Japanese defence once again picked up the offence in the second set. The Asian side finished the match with a brilliant play that included a block and save by Gottsu and an attack hit at the corner by Takahashi to secure gold at 21-14.
The Japanese pair won their first ever World Tour gold medal in their third tournament this season. The last World Tour event they played in was also on Thai soil, the Satun 1-star, where they finished ninth.
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After losing to Mullner/Schnetzer 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in the semifinals, Spain’s Alejandro Huerta and Javier Huerta used all their strength to take the bronze medal. The Huerta brothers worked their way to record a 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 18-16) win over Russia’s Aleksandr Kramarenko/Taras Myskiv.
The Spaniards improved on their fourth place finish in Manila last week with the Bangkok 1-star bronze medal win.