Crabb & Mayer seize Jinjiang gold

JINJIANG, China, June 3, 2018 – USA’s Trevor Crabb and John Mayer made a follow up to their Lucerne 3-star gold, following their thrilling 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 17-15) win over Germany’s Ehlers/Schumann in the gold medal match of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Jinjiang 2-star on Sunday.

After Crabb Tr/Mayer enjoyed a commanding 21-13 first set win, Ehlers/Schumann responded with a more balanced game in the second set. Both sides had an intense exchange of strong hits that led to a tight game, but the Germans felt the momentum shifting to their side and forced the tiebreaker at 18-21.

In the third set, USA built a 7-4 lead after Crabb won the joust with Ehlers. However, the Germans fought back and cut down the lead 8-7 then scored the equaliser from Ehlers’ block. Crabb Tr/Mayer reached set point at 14-12 from a net touch by Schumann. An Ehlers’ block brought the game to deadlock at 14-all, until Mayer nailed back-to-back hits to seize the gold medal 17-15.

Crabb and Mayer have won two of their three World Tour tournaments in their first season together. They claimed the gold at the Lucerne 3-star on May 13 against Serbia’s Lazar Kolaric and Stefan Basta 2-0 (21-10, 21-16).

China’s Gao Peng/Li Yang took the bronze medal with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) win over Germany’s Max Betzien/Jonathan Erdmann.