Mersin, Turkey, May 6, 2018 – Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold when they beat Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner in the Mersin 3-Star gold medal match on Sunday.
The Russian pair needed four match points, but eventually beat their Czech rivals 2-1 (14-21, 21-12, 18-16). It is the first time they have won a World Tour medal of any colour since they teamed up at the start of the year.
Semenov previously won one World Tour gold, two silver and two bronze with former partner Viacheslav Krasilnikov, but for Leshukov it is his first World Tour medal.
“In the first set we made too many mistakes and the Czech guys played very well,” Semenov said. “In the second set we forced more mistakes on them and we began to sideout well and get our block-defence going.
“We want to play even better so we will keep on working hard together.”
Perusic and Schweiner also won their first World Tour medals. The 23-year-olds, have been playing on the World Tour since 2016 when they made their debuts at the Kish Island 3-Star tournament.
They have won a number of tournaments on the Czech National Tour, but after their success in Montpellier they have begun to make strides on the World Tour and they reached the quarterfinals at the Xiamen 4-Star to show their progress.
For all the news and scores from the Mersin 3-Star click here.
Diaz Nivaldo and Sergio Gonzalez won their first medal of 2018 when they defeated Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich in the bronze medal match, and the medal will go alongside the 1-Star gold and 3-Star bronze in 2017.
“We played very well and we sided out very well,” Nivaldo said. “We made a few mistakes, one or two, but they made more than us and that’s why we finished with the victory. It was a quiet match, but my partner blocked very well.”
