Stopping Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy has been an impossible task so far at the World Championships. With six straight two-set victories, the Russians just keep going and have qualified for the semi-finals in Hamburg.
Before the tournament, Stoyanovskiy admitted their goal coming to Hamburg was to be in position to challenge Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sørum for the gold medal. And so far they’ve accomplished that, advancing to the semi-finals with a perfect record, just like the Beach Volley Vikings.
“The tournament is going really well for us,” Stoyanovskiy said. “We’ve been improving every game and we’ve been able to put pressure on our opponents with our serves and that has been the key for us so far.”
Several teams have tried to down the Russians in a variety of different forms in Hamburg. Italian Alex Ranghieiri used his massive block and Austrians Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst tried with their potent serves on pool play, but both failed.
The last to take the tough mission were Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi, who play one of the most unique styles in the sport, but that didn’t work too as Stoyanovskiy and Krasilnikov, a bronze medalist from the 2017 World Championships, held them to a 21-16, 21-16 victory.
“They are a very dangerous team as they can use so many different tactics,” the blocker added. “It’s also a very mental game against them because you never know what they’re going to do and if you lose focus, that’s when they take advantage. But we did a good job in keeping our minds fresh and focusing on our game, especially our serves.”
Next in line are Americans Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, who advanced to the semi-finals with a thrilling three-set victory over Brazilians André Loyola and George Wanderley.
Game on.
