Myslowice, Poland, June 15, 2014 – Poland’s Maciej Kosiak and Maciej Rudol ended up on top in a very close semifinal at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships on Sunday. The home team came back from behind and defeated Brazil’s Allison Cittadin Francioni and Gustavo Albrecht Carvalhaes 2-1 (19-21 21-17 15-11).
It was a rematch of last year’s semifinal at the FIVB U21 World Championships in Umag, where Brazil ended up with the gold and the Polish with bronze. This time, with the support of the home crowd, Kosiak and Rudol proved to be the strongest.
The first set was very close and Brazil needed two set points to close it. In the second set the Polish jumped from 11-11 to 14-11 and 20-15 in the end. Brazil came back a few points, but at 20-17 the Polish took the second set.
In the beginning of the tiebreak it was back and forth, with both teams hitting hard. Kosiak and a tough blocking Rudol leapt from 9-9 to 11-9 and at 14-11 a powerful spike by Rudol ended the game.
“Big emotions, this is a special day for us”, said Rudol. “Finally we play a medal match in Poland, in our own country.” So far the Polish team has won three bronzes at CEV and FIVB events, but never at home. Last year they finished 9th in Myslowice.
“We had some problems with our side-out in the first set”, said Kosiak. “But in the second we played a good block-defence and served well.”
Norway other finalist
Norwegian team Lars Fredrik Tvinde and Hendrik Nikolai Mol only needed two sets to set aside Germany’s Bennet and David Poniewaz in the other semifinal: 21-11, 21-15. The German twins just made too many unforced errors to make trouble for the Norwegians.
In the second set hard hitting Tvinde and Mol showed some spectacular volleyball. Two blocks in a row and a service winner led them to victory. “We were controlling the game and played really well in defence, that was the main reason we won”, said Tvinde.
“We are incredibly happy and do not want to predict the score in the final game”, he continued. “Our goal now is to play the best volleyball ever and do our best.”