Fijalek, Bryl triumph in Doha
Doha, Qatar: Grzegorz Fijalek and Michal Bryl began the 2020 season in the best way possible by beating Josue Gaxiola and Jose Rubio in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-Star Katara Beach Volleyball Cup gold medal match on Friday.
The Polish pair defeated the Mexican duo 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-11) to claim their first World Tour gold as a pair.
They needed to hold their nerve after trailing early in the second set. However, a combination of Bryl’s prowess at the net and Fijalek’s swift footedness at the back of the court allowed them to fight back and control the rest of the match.
“For us it wasn’t the best game of this tournament, but we are very, very, happy,” Fijalek said. “We started very nervously, but we expected that as they are young boys and have great rhythm and played well this week.
“But we are very, very happy as it is our first tournament win and I hope we keep our shape in the next tournament.”
Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai won the bronze with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory over Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves and Bruno Schmidt.
The men-only tournament ran from March 9-13 at Katara Cultural Village is the second of nine 4-Star events on the 2019-2020 calendar and the winners take 800 ranking points.
Qatar has built up a strong tradition of hosting World Tour events since it hosted its first in 2014. Two more followed in 2015 and 2016, then in 2018 the tournament grew from a 3-Star tournament to a 4-Star tournament.
