Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov’s plans are still on track at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Hamburg 2019 presented by comdirect and ALDI Nord as the Russians are the first men’s teams secured on Sunday’s gold medal match at the Red Bull Beach Arena.
The Russians, who reached the semi-finals without dropping any sets on the way, faced their major test in Hamburg in the match that granted them a spot in the final as they needed all three sets (21-13, 19-21, 15-11) to top USA’s Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.
The Americans were the first to steal a set from the Russians in the entire tournament and the tie-breaker was wide open until Oleg took it over scoring three consecutive points which led the Europeans to the victory.
“We’ve done a great job here so far and I can’t tell how happy I am that we’re in the final”, the 22-year-old Stoyanovskiy commented. “This match was a great test for us. We lost control of the game in the second set and that frustrated us in the end, but we regained our focus for the third and we’re getting into this final with a lot of confidence because we saw that we can take the game back anytime it happens.”
It will be Stoyanovskiy’s first-ever World Championships medal in his third appearance, but Krasilnikov, a Rio 2016 Olympian, is guaranteed his second after he took silver in Vienna 2017 with Nikita Liamin.
“I’m thrilled that I’ll have another medal this time and that it will be better than the bronze Nikita and I won in Vienna,” the 28-year-old defender stated. “It’s hard to describe this feeling right now, it’s just amazing and I hope I can feel the same way tomorrow after the final.”
It will be the biggest match of both of their careers so far. And they are ready for it.
