After over 18 months, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum reappeared together in an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event on Saturday in Mexico. The Norwegians were one of 16 teams to start their main draw campaign with a win at the first of three 4-star tournaments set to take place at the Cancun Hub.
The Beach Volley Vikings had last competed internationally at the 2019 FIVB World Tour Finals in Rome, where they took the bronze medal. Their only appearances after that was at the 2019 and 2020 European Championships, which they won, and last year’s King of the Court event in Utrecht.
In their first international match together in quite some time, the Norwegians, who are currently ranked first in the world, defeated the Mexican team of Miguel Sarabia and Raymond Stephens 2-0 (21-11, 21-10) in Pool A.
“It’s been a while and it’s so good to be back on the World Tour with Anders, it’s really amazing,” Sorum said. “The way we won the first match was also amazing. The young Mexican team had good serves and good ball control, but we played a really good match and I’m happy about that.”
Mol hits during the match against the Mexicans in CancunWhile Sorum competed at last month’s 4-star Katara Cup in Doha with Svein Solhaug, Mol has been sidelined with a hip injury. The 23-year-old blocker is now recovered and ready to compete in the international season which will culminate in the Tokyo Olympics in July.
“My body felt really well and I’m happy about that,” Mol, the World Tour’s Most Outstanding Player in 2018 and 2019, added. “There’s been a lot of struggling this last year and it feels great to be back with Christian playing the sport that we love. I couldn’t have it any better at the moment. We want to do the best we can here in Cancun, it’s been a long time away from competition and our friends.”
Mol and Sorum will play for the top spot of their pool on Sunday, when they face Russians Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov, who downed Qataris Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan 2-0 (21-17, 23-21).
Reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov also won their opening match as the Russians ousted Italian qualifiers Jakob Windisch and Samuele Cottafava 2-0 (21-13, 21-10). The Pool C final will be between them and Brazilians Andre Loyola and George Wanderley, who defeated Canadians Ben Saxton and Grant O’Gorman also in two sets (21-14, 21-18).
Schalk spikes past Alison's block in CancunThe major upset of the opening day in Cancun was the victory of 31st-seeded Americans Theo Brunner and Chaim Schalk over second-seeded Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho. Coming from the country quota and the qualifier, Brunner and Schalk came from behind to win the match 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 15-13). They will now play for the top spot of Pool B against Italians Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai while the Brazilians will compete with Germans Julius Thole and Yannick Harms for the third spot.
Fourth-seeded Jake Gibb and Taylor of the United States and fifth-seeded Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen of Germany were also surprised by teams coming from the qualifier. The Americans lost to Swiss pair Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener 2-0 (25-23, 21-19), while the Germans fell to Brazilians Arthur Mariano and Gustavo 'Guto' Carvalhaes in three sets (14-21, 21-15, 17-15).
Pool play will be completed for the men on Sunday and matches continue to be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World Youtube channel. Subscribe, log in and set reminders to receive notifications when streams begin.
Go to:
Cancun Hub - 1st event
Cancun Hub - 1st event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women
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FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
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