US MEN WIN FIRST BEACH PRO TOUR GOLD OF THE SEASON IN DUBAI

The first Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Dubai saw Americans Andy Benesh and Miles Partain make BPT history while Czech duo Barbara Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova take the women’s title

The first ever Beach Pro Tour event in Dubai saw teams from the United States and the Czech Republic win gold on a historic evening at Kite Beach.

Andy Benesh and Miles Partain became the first American men’s team to win a Beach Pro Tour medal at any level since the competition began following their win over Ukrainain pair Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik.

The US pair, who came through qualification, secured an eighth successive win of the competition by beating their European opponents 21-17, 21-15 in the gold medal match.

“It’s really special that we started from the qualifier and battled all the way to get the gold medal. I think we did a really good job at taking it one point at a time,” said Partain, who at 20 is the second youngest winner of a Beach Pro Tour medal.

“Now we get to celebrate for a couple of hours and then we are back in the qualifiers on Thursday. It’s an adventure. It’s a mystery and you never know how it’s going to go and that’s what makes it fun.”

Blocker Benesh said: “I am very proud of our federation for doing a great job supporting us. We, the men, have been lacking a little bit and we are trying to find our way back on the map.

“We believe in ourselves. We always have that hope, but not really expecting anything. We are just taking it moment by moment. Obviously, we want to get to a certain level, but that’s going to come over time.”

Brazilian legend and 2016 Olympian Pedro Solberg returned to the podium at international level, winning bronze with partner 10 years his senior, Arthur Mariano. The pair defeated Evan Cory and Logan Webber in the fight for third, 15-21, 21-18, 15-12.

Czechs on top in women’s competition

Hermannova and Stochlova were among the favourites for the title once the main draw began last Friday.

The Czech pair, who won a silver medal at the Challenge event in Agadir earlier in the Beach Pro Tour season, fought back to win women’s final against Meimei Lin and Xinyi Xia of China in three sets, 18-21, 21-17, 15-12.

Stochlova told Volleyball World: “In the first two sets I made serving errors at important moments, and in the third set till 11-11 each of my serves went into the net or three metres out.

“It was tough on the mind. But our coach Sebastian teaches us how to have fun during the matches and I think it’s visible on the court, even in games like this when we don’t feel great “It has been a pretty amazing journey for me and I’m enjoying it.”

Two-time Olympian Hermannova added: “Marie stayed positive and cheered after every ball, even when it was not perfect. She kept me in a positive mood through the whole match and deserves credit for it.

“It has been a hard year for sure, with some injuries and everything, but we managed to keep it on a high level and I am very proud of it. So we’ll go into the next year both satisfied and hungry.”

In the bronze medal match, US pair Katie Horton and Julia Scoles emerged victorious over Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat of Thailand, winning 26-24, 22-20.

There’s no rest for the athletes in Dubai as the second event begins on Thursday with another competitive qualification tournament.

Information and photo source : International Volleyball Federation