Germans Bergmann and Harms Caught the Gold Medal from Iranian Duo in Muscat

Muscat, Oman, March 17, 2018 – Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms triumphed with the gold medals at the Muscat one-star men’s event on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The second-seeded Germans went through all their five games in Oman unbeaten to register the first ever podium finish on the Tour for either of them.
Top-seeded Iranians Rahman Raoufi and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun took silver, a step up from the bronze at Agadir 2017, and their only previous medal on the World Tour. Italy’s Tiziano Andreatta and Andrea Abbiati, who came into the main draw from Wednesday’s qualification tournament, finished in third place, claiming their first medal on the Tour and leaving the home heroes, Omani rookies Nouh Al-Jalbubi and Mazin Alhashmi, off the podium, in fourth.
In the gold medal match, Bergmann and Harms delivered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) loss of Raoufi and Salemi to claim the top honours of the tournament. In the first set, the Iranians held up through 18-18, but three points in a row for the Germans followed as Bergmann found the empty spot on the opposite half of the court to close it off at 21-18. The second set was much quicker as the European side quickly broke away and never looked back. It was once again Bergmann who managed to overcome the Iranian block to score the last point for 21-11.
The third place match was a similar affair – a very competitive first set and a one-sided second on the way to Andreatta and Abbiati’s 2-0 (21-19, 21-9) victory. The lead went back and forth in the first half of the first set, but the second half went under Italian control. Still, Nouh and Mazin saved the first three of four consecutive match points, before Abbiati converted the fourth one to a 21-19 close. At 7-6 Italy’s way was the last time the score was so close in the second set. Andreatta and Abbiati opened a wide gap while the Omanis could not offer much of a resistance. With a powerful shot through the middle Andreatta shaped up the win at 21-9.
The semifinal between the Iranian and the Omani duos was a hard-fought, but straight-set affair. Raoufi and Salemi advanced to the final with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) win, carved out in 44 minutes of playtime.
The first match on the sand court at the Millennium Resort Mussanah on Saturday was the most competitive one. The semifinal between Bergmann and Harms and Andreatta and Abbiati was the day’s only three-setter. After 51 minutes of playing, the Germans emerged victorious with a 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-9) win.