Americans Mayer & Crabb triumph in Lucerne

LUCERNE, Switzerland, May 13, 2018 – Wild cards John Mayer and Trevor Crabb of the United States triumphed with the title at the Lucerne three-star event on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour on Sunday. This is not only the first World Tour gold for either of the two experienced players, but the first medal of any kind.

The silver medals went to Lazar Kolaric and Stefan Basta. The Serbian pair walked all the way from the first qualification round to the final to also claim their career first World Tour medal.

Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson brought home joy to Switzerland by snatching the bronze.

In the big men’s final on Sunday afternoon, Mayer and Crabb kept the initiative through to the end, which was marked by a fantastic block from Crabb which fixed the final score at 2-0 (21-10, 21-16).

In the bronze medal match, Heidrich and Gerson pleased the home crowd with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) victory over Indonesia’s Ade Candra Rachmawan and Mohammad Ashfiya.

Earlier on Sunday, the two semifinals were held. The day started with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) victory for Kolaric and Basta over Candra and Ashfiya. Mayer and Crabb managed a great comeback in their semifinal against Heidrich and Gerson. The Americans celebrated with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-17, 15-13) victory.

In the women’s event, top-seeded Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho lived up to their status and made it all the way to the top of the women’s podium. For them this is the third gold (after Qinzhou and Sydney in the fall of 2017) and the fourth overall medal on the Tour.

Third-seeded Fan Wang and Xinyi Xia of China settled for the silver medals in Lucerne, their second on the World Tour as a pair. For 2016 Olympian Fan Wang, this followed three earlier runner-up finishes. 21-year-old Xinyi Xia added a ninth medal to her tally, now boasting three gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

Taliqua Clancy used her power shot to close the match and fix the final 2-0 (21-12, 21-18).

The bronze medals went to USA’s Emily Stockman and Kelley Larsen, seeded ninth. This is their first World Tour podium as a team. For Larsen it is the second bronze, while they both have two gold medals each with different partners.

Stockman and Larsen defeated Netherlands’ Joy Stubbe and Marleen Ramond-van Iersel 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-9).