The Czechs arrived in Mexico with plenty of confidence after taking gold at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Paris Elite16 the week before, but saw their momentum go away with two losses in pool play. The start of the elimination rounds brought their best version back to the sand and culminated in a great win against the Olympic and world champions.
“It’s a big victory for us,” Schweiner remarked. “Mol and Sørum are, of course, incredible opponents, but we played a very good match here and also had some luck. We didn’t play well at all in pool play, but we’ve been improving in every match in the elimination rounds, it really looks like we’re a different team now. We hope we can play even better in the semifinals and hopefully make it to the final.”
Their semifinal opponents, Brunner and Crabb dominated Brazilians Pedro Solberg and Gustavo 'Guto' Carvalhaes in two sets (21-17, 21-14) in Huamantla to book their spots in the semifinals.
Beach Volleyball World Championships - Match Schedule and Results
In the other quarterfinal held in Tlaxcala, Poles Bryl and Łosiak eliminated Americans Miles Partain and Andy Benesh with a straight-set (21-19, 21-16) victory and will both appear in the semifinals of the World Championships for the first time in their careers.
“This is like a dream for us,” Bryl reacted. “We became partners a year and a half ago and to do well at this event was one of our main goals. The Americans are a really good team and have been unstoppable at times this season. We’re very happy that we made it.”
