It's gold for the Olympic champions! Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sørum beat Poland's Michał Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak 2-0 (25-23, 21-12) in the final of the A1 Beach Pro Vienna 2024 on Sunday to add another Elite16 gold medal to their already impressive collection.
It was a clash between two teams as yet unbeaten in this tournament. Facing the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champions, the Poles remained completely unimpressed, taking the first point and staying in the lead until Mol/Sørum went ahead at 8-7 with a service ace.
Precision strikes by the Norwegians were somewhat offset by service errors but they kept the upper hand against a combative Polish duo gunning for a second Elite16 gold medal after their one from Hamburg. Bryl/Łosiak managed to save four set points before a killer block by Mol sealed their fate in the first set.
It was a match worthy of Olympic Champions and world bronze medallists. Even with the Vikings in the lead throughout the second set, the Polish duo never let up the pressure. Mol's blocks were just too solid a defense. In the end, a service ace by the two-meter-tall Norwegian ended the Poles' misery.
The fifth time Mol/Sørum have won in Vienna, this was a perfect dress rehearsal two weeks before the Olympics in Paris where they will seek to defend their title.
"This is just what we needed, to find some confidence in our game," Mol reacted after their win, with a big shout-out to the supportive crowd. "It was priceless to play here!"
