Adrielson/Renato Take U21 Men’s Beach Title, Round Out Brazilian Sweep

FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships

• Nanjing, China
• July 10-16, 2017
• Schedule/Results

Brazil’s Adrielson Dos Santos Silva and Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho wrapped a Brazilian sweep of the U21 Beach World Championship titles on Sunday, edging past Russia’s Aleksandr Kramarenko/Vasilii Ivanov 22-20, 21-17 in the gold medal match.

The win, which followed that of Duda/Ana Patricia on the women’s side earlier in the day, nearly went the other way. The Russians had the first shot at set point in the opening stanza, but the Brazilians took eight points in a row to steal it away at 22-20. The Brazilians came through late in Set 2 again to grab the title with a 21-17 win.

The victory gives Renato his second straight age group title, following a U19 championship last year. The silver follows a runner up finish at the 2016 European Championships for the Russians.

“We’re extremely happy, it’s always a pleasure to win,” Renato said. “I really want to thank everyone that supports me all the time. It’s very special for me every time I represent Brazil. This win is great for my career. It’s always good to win the U19 and then the U21. The match was tough in the beginning, I couldn’t find myself. But my partner was getting all the balls and helped me out.”

Latvia’s Kristaps Smits and Mihails Sarmoilovs took the bronze medal, marking the duo’s second straight age group bronze, following the 2016 U19 World Championships. Smits/Sarmoilovs ended Austria’s Moritz Fabian Kindl and Marian Klaffinger run for the podium with a 21-17, 21-17 loss.

“Of course bronze, it’s a medal,” Samoilovs said. “It’s our second bronze in a row, so we’re a little bit unsatisfied and want to play once in a final. Before this tournament we had a camp in Alicante with the Spanish guys and there we were playing really bad, so we didn’t expect a medal here. But when we came here we calmed down, relaxed a bit and showed our game.”

Kindl/Klaffinger earned the lucky loser ticket after defeating the USA’s Clay Messenger/Adam Wienckowsck in the final pool play match of the tournament, advancing on point differential.

Gold Medal match

Adrielson Dos Santos Silva/Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho (Brazil) def. Aleksandr Kramarenko/Vasilii Ivanov (Russia) 22-20, 21-17

Bronze Medal match

Kristaps Smits/Mihails Samoilovs (Latvia) def. Moritz Fabian Kindl/Marian Klaffinger (Austria) 21-17, 21-17