Ludvig Sødal Ringøen-Sebastian Lyngaas Kjemperud are the Under 18 boys’ World Beach Volleyball Champions.
The Norwegian pair won the boy’s final in Doha, Qatar after a hard-fought straight sets win over Germany’s Jonathan Bungert-Filo Wüst. Italy’s Riccardo Santomassimo & Marco Di Felice also beat Türkiye’s Barış Güldali & Polat Kemal Eser by a similar margin to claim the bronze medal.
It’s the first ever gold medal for Norway in the history of this age-group competition.
USA retained the girls’ title with the pair of Jordyn Scribner-Ella Grimes beating the Junk twin sisters, Avery-Addison in straight sets in an all-American final
In the boys final Ringøen-Kjemperud outlasted Bungert-Wüst in a thrilling encounter that was decided by fine margins with the Norwegians running out 2-0 (25-23, 21-19) winners.
Their gold medal triumph was achieved via an 8-1 win-loss record that also included two matches in the qualification phase and a 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) sweep of Italy’s Riccardo Santomassimo-Marco Di Felice in the semifinals played earlier on Saturday. Their only defeat was in the pool phase where they were beaten 2-0 (12-21, 16-21) by the same German team of Bungert-Wüst.
“We tried to enjoy ourselves today and seize our moments. They are two good players so we had to produce our A-game to stop them. It was all about our attitude on court, to keep on working and showing that we really want to win no matter how bad the scoreline is,” said Kjemperud.
“It’s been an amazing journey together with a lot of development. Losing to Germany in the quarterfinals of the European Championship and also in the pool here was devastating but we fought through. We kept together and with the help of our coach we were able to take the grip around the gold medal match today. We are really happy about that and it’s an amazing feeling to stand on top of the podium,” he added.
Bungert-Wüst had reached the final on a six-match winning streak but Ringøen-Kjemperud turned tables on them when it mattered most.
“We know each other very well and are even friends off the court. We’ve beaten them twice this year and now in the World Championship final we’ve lost. It’s a close loss so it hurts. We had a good tournament but we didn’t use the chances we got in the final. The Norwegian guys played a really good game and deserved to win,” said Bungert.
“At the beginning of the season, we didn’t think we would play in two finals (European Championship and World Championship) so we are satisfied with what we’ve achieved. I’m happy with the whole season,” added Wüst.
Italy’s Riccardo Santomassimo-Marco Di Felice capped their impressive run at the World Championship with a bronze medal following a straight sets win over Türkiye’s Barış Güldali-Polat Kemal Eser in the third-place playoff.
The Italians’ five match unbeaten run was halted in the semifinals after losing in straight sets (15-21, 15-21) to Germany’s Jonathan Bungert-Filo Wüst earlier on Saturday. However, Santomassimo-Di Felice turned on class in the bronze medal match to cruise past Türkiye’s Barış G-Polat Kemal Eser by 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) and end their fairytale run from the qualification phase to the medal bracket.
“We had planned to focus on our game and not the opponent. It paid off because we were in full control from the beginning. We are so happy to get the bronze medal in our first World Championship. We have trained so hard in the summer and getting two bronze medals is a big achievement for us,” said Marco in reference to the bronze medal they had won at this year’s European Championship.
Meanwhile, the pair of Jordyn Scribner-Ella Grimes ensured USA retained the title won by Myriah Massey-Lily Davis in Shangluo, China last year when the competition was played in Under-19 age-group.
Belgium’s Lente Thant-Simone Vervloet settled for bronze after a three-set victory over Esmee Radstake-Jara Both of the Netherlands in the third-place playoff.
Scribner & Grimes’ gold medal brings USA joint level with Brazil as the most successful nation in this age group on the girls’ side, with four titles each.
The all-American girls’ final unfolded in three sets with Jordyn Scribner-Ella Grimes emerging 2-0 (21-13, 24-22) winners over the Junk sisters to win the gold medal unbeaten and without dropping a set in nine matches, including two games in the qualification phase.
“Since we started out in the qualification, we told ourselves that we are not going down without a fight. We pushed for every single point and I’m so happy with how it went down. We came here to win and that’s what we did,” said Scribner.
“I feel like both of us worked so hard to get here. They are our friends but we had to turn it on once we got on the court. We worked so hard together, pushed for every point and I’m super glad that we won,” added Grimes.
The Junk sisters had stormed the final on a 6-0 win-loss record including their 2-1 (18-21, 21-09, 15-10) win over Esmee Radstake & Jara Both of the Netherlands in Saturday’s semifinal. However, they tasted their first loss of the competition at the hands of their compatriots in the fiercely contested final.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to play in the final of a tournament like this but we weren’t at our best today. They were the better team and we are happy that USA still defends the title,” said Addison.
Belgium’s Lente Thant-Simone Vervloet picked themselves up in the third-place playoff to defeat Esmee Radstake-Jara Both of the Netherlands by 2-1 (21-08, 18-21, 15-08) and claim the bronze medal, their first ever in the history of this junior competition.
The Belgians had put together a five-match winning streak before losing 2-0 (19-21, 20-22) to USA’s Jordyn Scribner-Ella Grimes in the semifinals, their only loss of the competition. It’s the second bronze medal for the pair at a major international competition after also finishing third at this year’s European Championship.
“We felt great at the beginning of the match and put a lot of pressure on the Netherlands and it paid off. The second set was tight but we lost. We decided to give everything in the third set because it was our last of the year. We managed to open a gap, felt more comfortable, started enjoying the game and eventually got the win. We’ve worked so hard this year and sometimes felt disappointed during training and tournaments but we kept pushing. Getting bronze at the World Championship just feels amazing,” said Simone Vervloet of Belgium.
