Poland and USA crowned as 8th WUC Beach Volleyball Champions
The 8th WUC Beach Volleyball that was held in Pärnu has ended on 17 July with USA women and Polish men triumphing.
The finals took place in rainy weather conditions in Estonia’s summer capital. Despite the bad climate the games were intriguing. Medal matches started with the women’s game for bronze between Sweden and Spain, with the Swedish twins Thurin versus Paula Gutierrez Soria and Angela Herrero Lobato. At first everything seemed to go the twins’ way. The Swedish pair won the first set 21-19 and had two match balls in the second. However, the Spanish duo came back into the game to control it. They won the second set 22-20 and took a 4-0 lead in the third. The final score was 15-8. Soria and Lobato won the bronze medals for a second WUC Beach Volleyball in a row.
The same happened in the men’s bronze medal game where Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler from Austria defeated Norwegian pair Hendrik Mol/Lars Fredrik Tvinde with 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 17-15) and repeated their success from two years ago in Portugal.
The women’s final saw an All American game that ended within 27 minutes. Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes beat another twin duo. This time it was the Witt’s. The match ended with the score 21-16, 21-13.
The very last game held in Pärnu beach ended with Michal Bryl and Kacper Kujawiak’s triumph who overpowered the Swiss team composed of Gabriel Kissling and Michiel Zandbergen with 22-20 and 21-12. Bryl and Kujawiak crowned themselves world champion for the third time, as previously they won the World Youth Championships in 2012 and the U21 competition in 2014. Last year they also triumphed in the European U22 championships.
The next edition of the FISU WUC Beach Volleyball will be hosted in Munich in 2018.