Unstoppable Mol and Sunde earn Wilanow gold
Futures in Europe
Reigning U22 European champions Markus Mol and Jo Sunde continue in great form and won their fourth gold medal in just over two months on Sunday, when the Norwegians triumphed at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event held in Wilanow, Poland.
The younger brother of reigning Olympic and world champion Anders Mol, the 21-year-old Markus and the 20-year-old Sunde took the title in the men’s event held at the Plaza Wilanow with five wins and just two sets dropped.
Sunday’s gold medal match was arguably the most challenging one for the Norwegians, who came from behind to defeat Latvians Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 15-10) to secure the win.
The victory highlighted Mol and Sunde’s excellent form at the international level as the Norwegians have now won four of the last five events they played. Their winning streak started with the Ios Futures at the end of June and continued with triumphs at the U22 EuroBeachVolley and last week’s Brno Futures. The only tournament they didn’t win in the period was the Helsinki Futures, where they finished third.
Beach Pro Tour Wilanow Futures
Finland’s Santeri Siren and Jyrki Nurminem completed the podium in Wilanow following their two-set (21-18, 21-15) victory over Lithuanians Arnas Rumsevicius and Tomas Stasevicius in the bronze medal match.
Next week, it will be the women’s turn to play in Wilanow. The tournament will be held from Thursday to Sunday in the city, which is located just outside the country’s capital Warsaw.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.