Porto, Portugal, July 14, 2013 – Moritz Reichert and Clemens Wickler claimed the third gold medal for Germany in the 12-year history of the boys' FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship. The 18-year olds beat Norway’s Bjarne Nikolai Huus and Christian Sandlie Sorum 2-0 (21-16 21-17) in the final on Sunday in Porto.
Wickler won a medal before, bronze at the CEV U18 last year with Niklas Rudolf, but for Reichert it was his first. “It’s great. It was awesome playing for such a crowd, there was a nice atmosphere.”
The defence players of both teams did some great digging and produced great rallies for the 1500 visitors in the beach stadium on the Porto boulevard.
Germany was in total control in both sets, although the Norwegians took a small lead at the beginning of the second set.
Germany, who only lost one set this tournament, to Portugal’s Tomas and Diogo, caught up quickly, took a lead and claimed the title at their first match point at 20-17.
“We just started well from the beginning and made our points”, Reichert said. “Clemens did some great defence. We played like a team and that was the key to us winning here.”
USA take the bronze
USA’s Torey DeFalco and Lucas Yoder won the bronze with a 2-1 (22-24 21-18 15-8) win over Lithuania’s lucky losers Lukas Kazdailis and Arnas Rumsevicius. It is the first US medal in the boys’ U19 since 2008 and the third overall medal.
The American U16 and U18 volleyball MVP’s came back from behind after not being able to close the first set. They secured the second and got a big lead in the tiebreak. With his eighth big block of the match Yoder scored 14-7, with DeFalco grabbing the bronze with a nice shot down the line.
“I am pretty stoked”, DeFalco said right after the final point. “It means a lot to me to win this medal since this is my first FIVB beach volleyball event.”
The FIVB U19 World Championships in Porto were the final of three FIVB age group events. Porto, the second largest city in Portugal hosted the U19 for the second time after 2010.
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