Spain’s Alejandro Huerta and Adrian Gavira and Finland’s Anniina Parkkinen and Valma Prihti walked the tightrope before snatching the gold medals in the Volleyball World Beach Volley Pro Tour Challenge on Sunday at the Nuvali Sands Court by Ayala Land in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Huerta and Gavira in the world, went three sets, 21-17, 19-21, 17-15, in disposing of crowd-favorite twins Joaquin and Javier Bello of England, and so did Parkkinen and Prihti against Lithuania’s Leva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite, 17-21, 21-14, 15-11.
“Adrian [Gavira] made an outstanding defense particularly in the deciding set and we kept everything close,” Huerta said. “We didn’t give up before opportunity strikes.”
“It was a great feeling that we earned our first Challenge title as partners,” he added.
Italy’s Manuel Alfieri and Alex Ranghieri and Australia’s Stefanie Fejes and Jasmine Fleming, meanwhile, also went three sets in clinching the bronze medals of the event hosted by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.
Alfieri and Ranghieri rallied past Christoph Dressler and Philip Waller of Austria, 17-21, 21-18, 15-12, while Fejes and Fleming recovered from a sluggish opening set to defeat No. 45 Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova of Czechia, 13-21, 21-15, 15-13.
“We’re just so happy right now. Our opponent, Lithuania, is tough but we never gave up winning our first Challenge crown,” Parkkinen said.
Prihti scored 25 of the pair’s 35 points on top of her 16 attacks, five blocks and four service aces against Lithuania’s 33 points.
Huerta made 29 of Spain’s 40 attacks—including four blocks—against the Bello twins’ 34 combined attacks.
The Bellos advanced to the final after a close 11-21, 21-19, 15-11 semifinal win over Italian Manuel Alfieri and Alex Ranghieri, while Parkkinen and Prihti relied on blocking to beat Czechia’s Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova, 21-19, 18-21, 15-10, to punch their way to the final.
