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. |