USA’s Alexandra Wheeler and Corinne Quiggle and Russia’s Aleksandr Kramarenko and Maksim Hudyakov claimed the women’s and the men’s gold medals, respectively, at the first 1-star stop in Sofia on the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. For both pairs, it was a first World Tour podium finish.
In their very first World Tour event as a team, Wheeler and Quiggle started from the qualifications and won seven matches in a row to celebrate with the gold. For each of them, it was the second medal on the Tour. While Wheeler had previously won gold at Vaduz 2018, Quiggle topped the podium for the first time in her career. Her previous medal was a 2019 Phnom Penh silver.
On Sunday, the 10th-seeded Americans battled it out towards a 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-10) semifinal victory over third-seeded Austrians Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger and followed it with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) shutout of second-seeded Norisbeth Isais Agudo Gonzalez and Gabriela Brito of Venezuela in the gold medal match. The two pairs also met in the pool stage, with Wheeler and Quiggle winning by a very similar score.
The women’s podium in Sofia
Agudo and Gabi’s silver was their country’s first ever World Tour medal in either gender. To reach the final, they defeated qualifiers Daria Gusarova and Erika Nystrom of Cyprus by 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) in the semis.
The bronze went to the Klingers after a 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) win over Gusarova and Nystrom in the third place match. This was the second World Tour podium for the Austrian pair, after their Langkawi 2020 silver.
Kramarenko and Hudyakov did not drop a single set in the Bulgarian capital on the way to the title. In fact, they did not even allow any of the 10 sets they played to be pushed into overtime to emphatically claim their first World Tour medal in only their second appearance on the Tour together. Previously, Hudyakov had four podiums, of which three golds, while Kramarenko had a bronze from Tel Aviv 2019.
On the last competition day at Sofia Beach, the fifth-seeded Russian duo delivered two convincing straight-set wins over Polish opponents, 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) in the semifinal against seventh-seeded Jedrzej Brozyniak and Piotr Janiak and 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) in the final against Maciej Rudol and Jakub Nowak.
The men’s podium in Sofia
10th-seeded Rudol and Nowak had their first World Tour appearance as a team. 19-year-old Nowak had played on the Tour only once before, while for 2014 U23 world champion Rudol, the Sofia silver finish was the third podium on the Tour. The Polish team advanced to the gold medal match after a 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) shutout of Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos, seeded ninth, in the semis.
The 20-year-old Portuguese athletes snatched the bronze, the first World Tour medal in their careers, after claiming a 2-0 (25-23, 21-15) victory over Brozyniak and Janiak in the third place match.
The 20-year-old Portuguese athletes snatched the bronze, the first World Tour medal in their careers, after claiming a 2-0 (25-23, 21-15) victory over Brozyniak and Janiak in the third place match.
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FIVB – Volleyball World
CEV – European Volleyball
ÖVV – Volleyball Austria
CYP – Cyprus Volleyball
