News Beach volleyball 11/10/2014 France's Krou/Rowlandson go all the way to gold at the Xiamen Open Xiamen, China, October 11, 2014 – Youseff Krou andEdouard Rowlandson from France claim their first ever FIVB medal winning thefinal of the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open. The $150,000Xiamen Open is the third visit to China for the 2014 FIVB World Tour and thesecond consecutive year in Xiamen.The French pair beat Spain’s Marco Francisco Alfredoand Christian García 2-1 (22-20,19-21, 15-12) in a final that kept everyone guessing until the very end. It wasthe two teams' third meeting of the year with Marco/García undefeated againstthe Frenchmen entering the gold medal match.“We knew they are good and they knew that we are good,so it was a rough game,” said Krou.“We felt physically good, but we could feel that ouropponents were trying hard so it was going to turn at some point for one or theother and we managed to grab it,” said Rowlandson.Krou/Rowlandson had the slight edge in the first set,but it wasn’t long before García began to pull out some impressive returns andeven more impressive blocks to bring the score from 16-14 up to 20-20. Anunfortunate Spanish smash into the net handed the Frenchmen the first set.The second set saw a number of long rallies with wellcontrolled three touch play from both sides. By the midway point Marco/Garcíahad given themselves a four point lead at 14-10, with flawless spikes down theline from García. The Spanish pair retained the lead to end the set with agently placed ball into the centre of the court.With the gold medal within reach for each team, thethird set was the closest. Krou/Rowlandson gained the advantage at 6-3 helpedalong by a huge Rowlandson smash and began to put the pressure on Marco/García.Two huge blocks in row by García brought the score to a level 8-8 and thestakes were again evened.A couple of confident smashes by Krou were followed bya nervous serve that fell long, but the French pair had gained the upper hand andvictory was theirs with a final block at the net. “Right now we’refeeling really tired, but it feels so good,” said Rowlandson. “We always saybefore a tournament that you need seven games to win, but we did it and we’refeeling proud.“Even though we know a lot of the big teams were nothere, when you have an opportunity like that, it’s difficult to get them and sowe’re really pleased.”Rowlandson has been playing on the FIVB World Toursince 2012, but starts 2014 with new partner Krou who is new to the tour thisyear.“We started theseason quite late and we’re a completely new team so for us there’s a lot of workbehind it and a lot of investment. It makes us want to work even harder for nextyear and the year after to go to the Olympics,” said Rowlandson.SpanishSilverSpain’s Marco Francisco Alfredo and Christian Garcíafirst played together at the Junior World Championships in 2005, but did not re-joinforces until 2011 when they became regular faces on the FIVB World Tour. Thepair finished fifth at the Anapa Open this year, but the silver in Xiamen istheir first FIVB medal. “We don’t feel good now, but the result is very, verygood. We just lost and we’ve very tired, but we must remember the result andenjoy the ceremony. “In the season this is the third time we played Franceand the other times we won, but each match is different. They played reallywell,” said García.To reach the final, Marco/García had first faced USA’sTheodore Brunner and John Mayer in the morning semifinal. Brunner’s toweringpresence at the net paired with Mayer’s unfailing ability to find the clearspace on the opposing court, gave the Spanish pair a hard fight.The match appeared to be heading for a third set until Garcíapulled not one, but three giant identical block points in a row to guarantee theSpaniards a medal, 2-0 (21-18, 21-19). “The match against USA was very hard, they are a verygood team, but finally we did three blocks to finish the match,” said García.“This morning was very hard, but for me it’s a greatresult. I enjoyed the tournament and the travel. The result is very importantto me and my family so I’m really happy,” said Marco.Bronzefor Russia’s Liamin/BarsoukThe bronze medal match was down to Russia’s LiaminNikita and Barsouk Dmitri and USA's Brunner/Mayer. Liamin’s two metre stature metBrunner at the net and in the first set it was even all the way. The score layat 18-18 before USA let the set slip after an unforced error quickly turnedinto 21-18 to Liamin/Barsouk.The Russians came out strongly in the second set andwith both Liamin and Barsouk equipped with a powerful spiking arm, they were sixpoints ahead by the midway point. Brunner saved match point with a perfectsmash straight down the line, but the next point was Russia’s and the bronzemedal went to Liamin/Barsouk, 2-0 (21-18, 21-15).“Everything in the match was under our control. TeamUSA was a little bit tired, the tall blocker was slow and we received thechance and used it,” said Barsouk.“We were sure that we would win, we were not nervous, everythingwas under control. After the first set, after I saw my young partner felt goodand after a few balls I said OK, we will win this match and everything will begood. We blocked really well, we won five blocks in this game. It’s a goodresult for the two sets, so the block is one of our strongest points,” saidBarsouk.Barsouk is well versed on the World Tour but recentlyreturns after a long absence from injury. He is back at the end of 2014 withnew partner Liamin who has just made the transition from indoor volleyball.“For our team, each medal is important, but this medalis super important because Liamin is a new player. He never played on thebeach, it’s his first season after playing indoor. For me it’s also an importantwin for the bronze medal because I missed the last three years from my shoulderinjury, so this medal is a great comeback,” said Barsouk.With the Grand Slam portion of the 2014 FIVB World Tournow complete, the tour continues after Xiamen with four more FIVB Open events.The tour will travel to Argentina for the FIVB Parana Open (Oct. 28-Nov. 2)before heading to Doha for the men-only FIVB Qatar Open (Nov. 4-8). India willthen host the double-gender FIVB Vizag Open (Nov. 25-30), before the 2014calendar comes to a close in South Africa with the double-gender FIVB MangaungOpen (Dec. 9-14). Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News