Anders Mol and Christian Sørum made it to the semi-finals against Germany – Olympics Paris 2024

The beach volleyball duo Anders Mol and Christian Sørum suffered a stinging defeat in the semi-finals. And in a dramatic way. At 14–12, the Germans had match point. After the Norwegians had first saved the first match point, the second match point was of the highly dramatic kind. The referee awarded the first point to the Norwegian duo, but after reviewing the video images, the point went to the Germans, who won the match 2–1 in sets over the Norwegian duo. – It is the worst imaginable way to lose, said news expert Vegard Høidalen. Thus, the Norwegian duo must go to the bronze final. – It is not Norway that is playing badly. But Germany plays at an exceptionally high level. It’s really impressive, said news expert Vegard Høidalen, and praised the duo Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler. In the bronze final on Saturday, either Sweden or Qatar await, who will meet later this evening in the second semi-final. Qatar beat Sweden 2–1 in the group stage earlier in the championship, in what was a very even match. The Qatari duo Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse took Olympic bronze in 2021. NO REPRESENTATION: In Tokyo three years ago it was gold. There will be no repeat of that in Paris. The duo will now go on to the bronze final. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Smashed together at the start It looked early on that the Norwegian duo would progress comfortably and easily to the final, but then the German duo woke up. The Germans quickly took the lead in the match, leading by the most with eight points in the first set. – It is not Norway that is playing badly. but Germany plays at an exceptionally high level. It is really impressive, said Høidalen. The Norwegian duo was never able to catch up with the German lead, which eventually resulted in a 21-13 German victory in the first set. The set loss was the Norwegian duo’s first loss so far in the Olympics. – They overrun us in the first set, so I hope we can handle it in the second set, said coach Kåre Mol to news during the break. In the second set, the Norwegian duo rose considerably, and eventually won 21–17. Full control There was no doubt, however, who was the king of the sand in Paris. The German duo took the early lead in the set, and despite a Norwegian catch-up, there was never any doubt. – It is not Norway that is doing badly, but the Germans are making some fantastic sporting achievements. Achievements of another world. They hit with what they try, said news expert Høidalen, who praised the 211 cm tall Nils Echler’s effort in the match. The Germans eventually won the final set 15–13. – Germany were good. We just have to congratulate them first of all. I think they played a better game than us today. We had a web error with Anders’ foot. There’s a crappy way to lose. But they play a good game, so we can be generous and congratulate them, says coach Kåre Mol to news after the game. Could have become historic If the Norwegian duo had made it to the final, the duo would have become historic in several ways. The duo would then become the first in history to reach two Olympic finals, and at the same time in a row. In the past, Brazilians Ricardo Santos, Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego have reached two Olympic finals, of which the former two to two in a row. Had the Norwegians defended the Olympic gold at the same time, this would have been the first time a country had defended the Olympic gold in beach volleyball since the USA did it in 2000. The Americans also won history’s first Olympic gold in the sport in Atlanta in 1996. Published 08/08/2024, at . 19.14 Updated 08.08.2024, at 19.21



ttn-69