Aalsmeer, Netherlands, October 29, 2017 – Marco Caminati and Enrico Rossi are the winners of the Aalsmeer one-star men’s tournament on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The eighth-seeded Italians went unbeaten through the entire competition at The Beach Indoor Center in the Netherlands to triumph with the gold medal, which is the second World Tour medal in 25-year-old Caminati’s career after a 2015 Lucerne Open gold with Alex Ranghieri, but the first ever FIVB medal for 24-year-old Rossi.
In the men’s final on Sunday afternoon, Marco Caminati and Enrico Rossi claimed a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) win against USA’s William Kolinske and Miles Evans, seeded 10th.
Earlier in the day, Caminati and Rossi earned a 2-0 (23-21, 21-12) victory in their semifinal against Ukraine’s Sergiy Popov and Oleksii Denin. Then, Kolinske and Evans persevered in a three-set drama, coming back from a set down to claim a 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-13) victory over Turkey’s Hasan Huseyin Mermer and Murat Giginoglu.
The first set of the men’s final was quite even until 18-18, but then a series of three consecutive points for Italy ending with a monster block by Rossi brought the set to an end. The second set was more straightforward, with the Italians dominating throughout. Caminati made a smart move in offence to trick the opponent’s block and score the championship point.
The men's podium in Aalsmeer
To both 31-year-old William Kolinske and 27-year-old Miles Evans this silver medal is the first ever podium finish on the World Tour.
Turkey’s Hasan Huseyin Mermer and Murat Giginoglu are happy after winning the bronze medal match in Aalsmeer
The bronze medals were claimed by Turkey’s Mermer and Giginoglu. In the match for third place, they had to go through a tough challenge by Ukraine’s Popov and Denin, but came from behind to claim a dramatic 2-1 (13-21, 21-19, 18-16) victory after an extended tie-breaker set. For 30-year-old Giginoglu this was the second World Tour medal after a 2015 Lucerne Open bronze with Volcan Gogtepe. At twenty-two years of age, it was the first podium finish for Mermer.