Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot achieved the happy ending to their Cinderella story on Saturday, as the Dutchmen won one of the most prestigious tournaments of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, the 4-star event in Gstaad.
Boermans and De Groot’s incredible run lands Gstaad gold
Ranked 41st in the world, the Dutch win the tournament in the Swiss Alps
Published 05:52, 10 Jul 2021
Currently sitting in the 41st place of the FIVB World Rankings, the 26-year-old Boermans and the 21-year-old De Groot topped the podium in just their seventh international tournament together. The Europeans first became partners in March, just four months ago, and surprised the world with their early success.
In Gstaad, Boermans and De Groot completed their undefeated campaign, which started on Wednesday, with a 2-1 (23-21, 19-21, 15-10) gold medal match win over Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. They had already defeated the Asians in their second match in the Swiss Alps, which granted them the top spot in Pool B.
“We had played them in pool play and we knew how good they are,” De Groot commented. “We had to bring our top game to win. We kept our calm near the end and kept playing our game and focusing on our side of the net. I believe it was an amazing match to watch and I still can’t believe we won it.”
De Groot spikes past Cherif's block during the gold medal match
It’s the first time a Dutch male team wins the Gstaad tournament and also the second consecutive title for a men’s duo from the Netherlands in World Tour 4-star events, following Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen’s victory in Ostrava in June.
“I had never seen the popular cowbells which are given as the trophies of the Gstaad event before, only in photos,” Boermans said. “I might as well sleep with it tonight.”
Reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov secured their first podium appearance in 2021 with their 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) victory in the all-Russian bronze medal match against Nikita Liamin and Taras Myskiv.
“We have to thank our entire team because their work is what makes us play at this level,” Stoyanovskiy said. “It’s nice to finally win our first medal this year. Playing against the other Russians is always fun, especially in a bronze medal match. We’re good teammates, we help each other and we’re happy for each other’s success. I dreamed about winning a cowbell since I started playing beach volleyball and I’m confident this finish will give us an extra boost for the Olympics.”
Earlier in the semifinals, Boermans and De Groot downed Liamin and Myskiv 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) while Cherif and Ahmed prevailed over Stoyanovskiy and Krasilnikov also in two sets (21-17, 21-17).
