Ukraine and Russia win trophies at second Sofia event

17-year-old Ukrainians Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko won gold at their third ever participation in an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event, topping the women’s podium at the second Sofia 1-star stop. The men’s trophy in the Bulgarian capital went to Russia again, this time earned by Petr Bakhnar and Valeriy Samoday to mark the pair’s first World Tour medal.

Venezuela’s Norisbeth Isais Agudo and Gabriela Brito, the top-seeded team in the women’s main draw, took silver, their second World Tour medal, after their runner-up finish at the first Sofia event last month as well.

Last month’s Sofia gold medallists Alexandra Wheeler and Corinne Quiggle of USA, seeded second, had to settle for the bronze this time, their second World Tour podium as a team.

Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos, who claimed their first World Tour medal less than a month ago in Sofia, improved on their bronze finish by taking the silver at the second Sofia stop.

In their first World Tour participation as a team, fifth-seeded Italians Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso took bronze. The appearance in Sofia constituted Dal Corso’s World Tour debut, while Cottafava had two previous medals, both of them gold.

In the women’s gold medal match, 11th-seeded Khmil and Lazarenko prevailed over Agudo and Gabi in straight sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-15), after a 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) shutout of Wheeler and Quiggle in one of the semifinals, which secured the Ukrainian teens their first ever World Tour medal. In the other semifinal, the Venezuelan duo and sixth-seeded Austrians Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger went to three, with Agudo and Gabi taking the upper hand at 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-11). The bronze medal match was a one-sided affair in which the Americans hammered out a 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) victory over the Klingers.

The men’s final was a hard-fought two-setter, in which second-seeded Bakhnar and Samoday emerged with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over 21-year-old Pedrosa and 20-year-old Campos. To reach the gold medal match, the Russians had to go through a nail-biting semifinal against Cottafava and Dal Corso, which they won by 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 18-16). The sixth-seeded Portuguese team managed a 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) shutout of third-seeded Italians Jakob Windisch and Tobia Marchetto in the other semifinal. In an all-Italian third place match, Cottafava and his new teammate snatched a tight 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) win over his previous partner Windisch and Marchetto.

Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Sofia
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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