Beach volleyball players Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler lost in the World Cup semifinals and competed for the bronze medal in Adelaide, Australia. In revenge for losing the Olympic final in Paris, the duo from Hamburg suffered a 0:2 defeat (10:21, 14:21) against Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig. For Ehlers/Wickler it was the 14th defeat in the 15th duel with the Olympic champion.
Ahman was the dominant player in the first set. The 23 year old player has repeatedly managed to play difficult balls as perfect assists to his teammates. Hellvig also impressed on the block. That part disappeared after less than a quarter of an hour.
Too little pressure from the German serve
Ehlers/Wickler too rarely managed to pressure his opponent with his serve in the second set. Sweden advances to 16:12. Ahman/Hellvig quickly gained six match points. They used their first attempt to reach the final.
In the match for third place, Ehlers and Wickler will now face Frenchmen Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, who defeated German champions Lukas Pfretzschner and Sven Winter in the quarterfinals, on Sunday at 5:30 am German time. Ahman/Hellvig await fellow Swedes Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, who beat France 2-0 (21:18, 21:17), in the final four hours later.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251122-930-325781/1
