Grimalt cousins strike gold in Katara Cup

Doha, Qatar: Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt won their second FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medal in two weeks when they beat Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena in the Katara Cup on Saturday.

The Grimalt cousins beat the American pair 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) to add their first 4-Star gold to the Sydney 3-Star gold they won last Sunday.

The Katara Beach Cup was the fifth time that Qatar has hosted a World Tour tournament. It began on March 12 and finished on March 16 at the Katara Cultural Village.

“It was a crazy two weeks, and we are so proud of our team, our family and our country,” Esteban Grimalt said. “I don’t have words to describe our feelings right now.

“When we started on the World Tour nine years ago it was against Dalhausser (and Todd Rogers) and now many years later we have beaten him in a final. It is a dream come true for us, but we want more and to keep improving.”

After the Grimalt won the Sydney 3-Star they flew 14 hours to reach the Qatari capital and competed in the qualification tournament on Tuesday. Their victory in Sydney was their second World Tour victory in the past year following gold at the Tokyo 3-Star in July.

For Dalhausser and Lucena the silver is their first World Tour medal since the won the Fort Lauderdale 5-Star in March 2018.

The Americans enjoyed a long off-season and the Doha 4-Star was their first tournament since August 2018. They appeared back to their best in Doha and before the gold medal match had lost only one set in five matches.

Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira won bronze when they defeated Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Michal Bryl. The Spaniards won 2-0 (21-17, 22-20).