Poland's Mateusz Florczyk / Jakub Szalankiewicz knocked out defending champions Petr Bakhnar / Valeriy Samoday of Russia in the semifinals and went on to take the gold medal at the Sofia 3 one-star Open of the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour aftre Brazil's Vinicius Gomes / Matheus Maia withdrew midway into the final.
Vinicius / Maua, who had earlier come from behind to eliminate Serbia's Milos Milic / Lazar Kolaric 2-1 (19-21, 21-14, 15-13) in the semis, were leading the Poles by one set and were ahead 14-13 in the second, when Vinicius suffered a knee injury after a bad fall while attempting a block.
The Brazilians, who had come into the Main Draw through the qualifiers, took a timeout to asses the situation, but Vinicius could not continue. He was helped off the court and the match was awarded to the Poles 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 15-0).
Florczyk / Szalankiewicz had previously beaten the tournament's top seeds Bakhnar / Samoday in another comeback win 2-1 (15-21, 21-19, 15-10) in the semifinals.
The Russians, who were defending the title they had won at the Sofia 2 Open last month, went on to grab the bronze medal with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) sweep of Milic / Kolaric.
The women's tournament of the third Sofia Open, at the Sofia Beach facilities in the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital, will be played next week.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Sofia 3
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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