Porto, Portugal, July 14, 2013 – Producing some great rallies Germany’s Moritz Reichert and Clemens Wickler beat USA’s Torey DeFalco and Lucas Yoder 2-0 (21-19 21-19) to advance to the final of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship in Porto.
In the other semifinal Norway’s Bjarne Nikolai Huus and Christian Sandlie Sorum booked a tight 2-1 (21-19 12-21 15-10) win over lucky losers Lukas Kazdailis and Arnas Rumsevicius from Lithuania.
USA and Germany played point by point in both sets on a packed centre court. Germany took a three-point lead at 17-14 in the second after Reichert served an ace. DeFalco and Yoder equalled at 18-18, but at 19-19 Reichert produced a great kill block before Wickler finished the match with an angle shot.
“It was a very close match, at the beginning we had our problems, but we made the important points”, Reichert said. “Our service and block was good in the end, that was the key I think.”
Wickler addes: “And at the end we had the better luck."
The Germans have a lot of support from family and friends in Porto. “The support is very important for us it was a close set and it helped to make the important points”, Reichert said.
Norway keep lucky losers out of final
In the other semifinal Norway’s Huus and Sorum stopped Lithuania’s remarkable run, coming all the way from losing in the first qualification round and getting a second chance as lucky losers, to the semifinal.
After winning one set each the Norwegians had a comfortable lead in the tiebreak. A mishit by Lithuania finished the match in Norway’s favour.
"It's fabulous. I was exhausted and it was with a sense of relief that I saw the ball touch the sand on the last point”, Huus said. “Reaching the final is huge step for us, we just wanted to play our best and see how far we could go.”
The Norwegian boys are experiencing their second U19 World Championships. “Our goal was a medal after finishing 5th last year. It’s amazing, but we trained hard this year. We beat a lot of good teams on our way to the final.”
They have great respect for the Germans. “It’s a great team with a big block and a good defence player, but if we play our best I know we can beat them”, Huus said.
Huus and Sorum will have the chance to become the first Norwegian team to win the gold at a U19 World Championship, after Sannarnes and Takvan won silver in 2011, the first Norwegian medal ever. Germany have won two gold and one silver medal in the before at the Youth World Championship.
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