Austria’s Laurenz Leitner & Paul Pascariuc started off their Warsaw Futures campaign with a loss to Stefan Andreasson & Anton Andersson, but then earned the opportunity to meet the Swedes again in the final and got back at them to claim their second Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold, after the Al-Alamein Futures victory last summer. The bronze went to England’s Frederick Bialokoz & Issa Batrane.
In their first pool-stage match of the men’s tournament in the Polish capital, the 24-year-old Austrians were not only pushed to a third set by Swedish qualifiers Andreasson & Andersson, but lost the tie-breaker by a narrow 15-13. Sixth-seeded Leitner & Pascariuc got back on the winning track and, four consecutive victories later, they were up against the 11th-seeded Swedish opponents in a direct battle for gold. Once again, the match went to a crucial third set, only this time the 15-13 final score was in favour of the Austrians for a 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 15-13) comeback.
