Kish Island, February 18, 2017 – Russia’s Nikita Liamin and Viacheslav Krasilnikov won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medal as partners at Kish Island 3-Star on Saturday, following a 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-8) win over Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak in the final.
Kantor/Losiak took advantage of their opponents’ rough start to secure the first set, but the hard-serving Krasilnikov helped the Russian side to bounce back in the succeeding sets and completely deny their rivals for the top podium spot.
Viacheslav Krasilnikov's serve was key to Russia's victory over Poland's Kantor/Losiak
Liamin/Krasilnikov are playing in their second World Tour event together. The Russian pair first teamed-up at the Fort Lauderdale Major, where they placed ninth. Krasilnikov previously won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals with partner Konstantin Semenov; while Liamin previously won bronze with partner Dmitri Barsuk.