Doha, Qatar, November 8, 2014 - Tim Holler and Jonas Schroder capped a dream week on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour by winning gold at the inaugural Doha Open on Saturday.
The German pair defeated Canada’s Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) in a match in which Holler dominated at the net and Schroder provided a bagful of energy at the back of the court.
“I’m very lucky I guess,” Schroder said. “He played an almost perfect tournament, we had an almost perfect week and what a finish. It was a great atmosphere and great playing here.”
Holler and Schroder had previously only played in the qualifiers of a World Tour event, but they have now set themselves a high bar to match in the future after a powerful run to the final.
Their previous best came earlier in the year when they won the University Beach Volleyball World Championships and they also added one gold, two silvers and one bronze on the German National Tour.
“We didn’t expect anything,” Holler said. “First we were in qualification then with a bit of luck we made the main draw and the fact we played that well is incredible.
“This is just incredible, to be on the World Tour and win a gold medal. Just give me a second because I just can’t believe it.”
Binstock and Schachter’s silver was their second World Tour medal in seven days. Last Sunday they defeated Chilean cousin’s Marco and Esteban Grimalt in the Parana Open final to win their first World Tour medals.
The victory preceded a dash across the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in time for the start of the Doha Open. They impressed throughout the week, but were unable to contend with the Germans in the gold medal match.
“We were both a little tired, it has been quite a long couple of weeks,” Schachter said. “They played great and were siding out very effectively.
“They served unbelievably well and we struggled a little with passing, but I’m just proud with the way we competed and played during the tournament. It is a new level of performance for us and I’m still happy with the overall two weeks.”
Rowlandson and Krou win bronze medals
France’s Edouard Rowlandson and Youssef Krou took home the bronze medal after they defeated Russia’s Bykanov and Serguei Prokopiev 2-0 (21-15, 21-15).
The pair controlled the match from start to finish and used their greater experience to maintain their grip on proceedings after they took an early lead.
“I was saying to Youssef that we needed a really, really great match to finish this competition,” Rowlandson said. “We are really pleased with this match.”
It is the pair’s second medal of the season after they won gold at the Xiamen Open.
Nonetheless, with only the Mangaung Open in South Africa remaining on the 2014 World Tour, the pair are determined to add yet another medal to their trophy collections.
“We are not finished yet,” Krou added. “We have one more tournament for this season, but we were focused on this one for now.”
Doha was making its debut as a World Tour venue. Previously it hosted beach volleyball as part of the Doha 2006 Asian Games. The World Tour is made up of 10 Grand Slam tournaments and eight Opens. The next and final tournament on the 2014 World Tour is the Mangaung Open in South Africa that runs from December 9-14.
To find out all the news and scores from the maiden Doha Open, click
here