Russia’s Liamin/Krasilnikov top podium at Kish Island

Russia’s Nikita Liamin and Viacheslav Krasilnikov have won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medal as partners at Kish Island 3-Star on Saturday, following their 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-8) win over Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak in the final.
Kantor/Losiak took advantage of their opponents’ rough start to secure the first set, but the hard-serving Krasilnikov helped the Russian side to bounce back in the succeeding sets and completely deny their rivals of the top podium spot.

Liamin/Krasilnikov are playing in their second World Tour event together. The Russian pair first teamed-up at Fort Lauderdale Major, where they placed ninth. Krasilnikov previously won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals with partner Konstantin Semenov; while Liamin previously won bronze with partner Dmitri Barsuk.

Kantor/Losiak improved their medal standing to one place at Kish Island after they took the bronze last year. The Polish duo have been playing together since 2009 and have won one gold, one silver and four bronze medals in the World Tour.