The Hague, Netherlands, July 22, 2018 - Just a week after their victory at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Gstaad Major, Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum collected gold at the 2018 CEV DELA Beach Volleyball European Championship in the Netherlands on Sunday.
Mol and Sorum were crowned Europe’s ‘Kings of the Beach’ after defeating Latvia’s Janis Smedins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) to become Norway’s first European champions since Vegard Hoidalen and Jorre Kjemperud secured the continental crown back in 1997 in Riccione, Italy.
Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira completed the podium after a hard-fought victory in the bronze medal match against Russia’s Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov.
Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink celebrate winning the women's title
The Norwegian men's gold on Sunday followed victory for Dutch pair Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink on Saturday night against Switzerland's Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart 2-0 (21-16, 26-24). For the two Dutch players, it was the second European title in their careers. Keizer won in 2012 with Marleen van Iersel before Meppelink paired with van Iersel to win in 2014.
Marketa Slukova/Barbora Hermannova of the Czech Republic were the recipients of the bronze medals following their victory over Spain’s Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo in the match for third place held earlier on Saturday.