Muscat, Oman, March 17, 2018 – Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms claimed gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Muscat, Oman. The second-seeded Germans won five matches to register their first ever podium finish on the World Tour.
Top-seeded Iranians Rahman Raoufi and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun took silver, a step up from bronze at Agadir 2017, their only previous medal on the World Tour. Italy’s Tiziano Andreatta and Andrea Abbiati, who came into the main draw from Wednesday’s qualification tournament, finished in third place, claiming their first medal on the Tour and leaving the home heroes, Omani rookies Nouh Al-Jalbubi and Mazin Alhashmi, off the podium, in fourth.
All medal winners on the podium in Muscat
In the gold medal match, Bergmann and Harms delivered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) shutout of Raoufi and Salemi to claim the top honours of the tournament. 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 again Bergmann who managed to overcome the Iranian block to score the last point for 21-11.
The match for third place featured a very competitive first set and a one-sided second on the way to Andreatta and Abbiati’s 2-0 (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. 7-6 was the last time the score was so close in the second set. Andreatta and Abbiati then opened a gap while the Omanis were unable to offer much resistance. With a powerful shot through the middle, Andreatta shaped up the win at 21-9.
The semifinal between the Iranian and the Omani duos was a hard-fought, but straight-set affair. Raoufi and Salemi advanced to the final with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) win, carved out in 44 minutes of play.
The first match on the sand court at the Millennium Resort Mussanah on Saturday was the most competitive. The semifinal between Bergmann and Harms and Andreatta and Abbiati was the day’s only three-setter. After 51 minutes of play, the Germans emerged victorious with a 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-9) win.