German duo go all the way to win Qatar Open

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Tim Holler and Jonas Schroder made a dream debut at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Tour, defeating Canada’s Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) to win inaugural Qatar Open yesterday.

The German pair thus capped a perfect few days after first coming through the qualifers and going all the way to win the championship.

“We didn’t expect anything,” Holler said. “First we were in qualification then with a bit of luck we made the main draw and the fact we played that well is incredible.

“This is just incredible, to be on the World Tour and win a gold medal. Just give me a second because I just can’t believe it.”

The pair combined well in the final as Holler dominated the net and Schroder was full of energy at the back of the court.

“I’m very lucky, I guess,” Schroder said. “He played an almost perfect tournament, we had an almost perfect week and what a finish. It was a great atmosphere and great playing here.”

Holler and Schroder had never previously played on the World Tour, but they have now set themselves a high bar to match in the future after a powerful run to the final.

Their previous best came earlier in the year when they won the University Beach Volleyball World Championships and they also added one gold, two silvers and one bronze on the German National Tour.

Binstock and Schachter’s silver was their second World Tour medal in seven days. Last Sunday they defeated Chilean cousin’s Marco and Esteban Grimalt in the Parana Open final to win their first World Tour medals.

Here they impressed throughout the week, but were unable to overcome the Germans in the final.

“We were both a little tired, it has been quite a long couple of weeks,” Schachter said. “They played great and were siding out very effectively.

“They served unbelievably well and we struggled a little with passing, but I’m just proud with the way we competed and played during the tournament. It is a new level of performance for us and I’m still happy with the overall two weeks.”

Earlier, France’s Edouard Rowlandson and Youssef Krou won the bronze medal defeating Russia’s Bykanov and Serguei Prokopiev 2-0 (21-15, 21-15).

The pair controlled the match from start to finish and used their greater experience to maintain their grip on proceedings after they took an early lead.

“We are really pleased with this match. I was saying to Youssef that we needed a really, really great match to finish this competition,” Rowlandson said.

It is the pair’s second medal of the season after they won gold at the Xiamen Open.

Nonetheless, with only the Mangaung Open in South Africa remaining on the 2014 World Tour, the pair are determined to add yet another medal to their trophy collections.

“We are not finished yet,” Krou added. “We have one more tournament for this season and hoping to finish on the podium again.”