Russia, Germany Top Podium at Alanya One-Star

Alanya One-Star

• Alanya, Turkey
• May 31-June 2, 2018
• Schedule/Results

The fifth seeded men’s team, Maksim Hudyakov/Ruslan Bykanov of Russia, and the third seeded women’s duo, Sarah Schneider/Viktoria Seeber of Germany, finished atop the podium at the Alanya One Star on Sunday, each leaving the home Turkish crowd to celebrate silver medals. 

The men’s semifinals came down to teams from Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

Turkey’s top seeded Volkan Gogtepe/Murat Giginoglu downed Ukraine’s No. 8 Oleksii Denin/Denys Denysenko, while Hudyakov/Bykanov topped Switzerland’s No. 9 Florian Breer/Yves Haussener, both in straight sets.

From there, Hudyakov/Bykanov, who were coming off a third place showing at the Aydin One Star on May 20, squeaked past the homestanding Turks 21-13, 16-21, 15-11 for the gold.

In the bronze medal match, Denin/Denysenko bested Breer/Haussener in tiebreak despite dropping the first set, 18-21, 21-14, 17-15. The medal marks their best ever finish on the FIVB World Tour.

On the women’s side, the final four teams hailed from Germany, Italy, Russia and Turkey.

First up, Turkey’s Aleyna Vence/Bugra Eryildiz battled Italy’s Silvia Costantini/Gaia Traballi to a 19-21, 21-19, 15-13 tiebreak win. On the other side of the bracket, Schneider/Seeber took on Russia’s Daria Rudykh/Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya, recording a 21-15, 22-20 win.

The Germans outlasted No. 4 seed Vence/Eryildiz in tiebreak, rallying for a 18-21, 21-13, 15-13 victory for gold in their first ever FIVB World Tour event.

The silver gave the Turkish pair its first FIVB World Tour podium finish after three CEV Snow Tour titles.

No. 14 Rudykh/Zayonchkovskaya, earned the bronze with a 21-15, 13-21, 15-12 win over No. 5 Costantini/Trabelli, marking their best ever tournament finish ahead of a fourth-place effort at the CEV U20 Championships in June 2016.