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TLAXCALA, Mexico, March 21, 2022 - Michal Bryl’s
and Bartosz Losiak’s first tournament as
partners ended with the Polish Olympians
displaying gold medals around their necks as
they were the winners of the first-ever
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event, a
Challenge tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico, which
came to an end on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Bryl and the 29-year-old Losiak
looked like old partners the entire week and
ended the tournament in stellar fashion, taking
Chilean sensations Vicente Droguett and Noe
Aravena down in two sets (21-17, 21-16) in the
gold medal match, which was played in front of a
packed Plaza de la Constitucion.
The final in Tlaxcala was a good reflection of
the excellent level the Polish team displayed
the entire week as they won all six matches they
played in Mexico this week and lost a single
set, in the semifinals.
“We feel amazing,” Losiak commented. “This was
our first tournament together and we won it. It
was a great start to the year for us. I was
really impressed with the atmosphere here in
Tlaxcala. I don’t remember ever playing in such
an electric stadium before.”
This was the second victory in Bryl’s career –
he had won an FIVB World Tour event in Doha with
former partner Grzegorz Fijalek in 2020. Losiak,
on the other hand, had won three golds with his
previous teammate, Piotr Kantor, between 2016
and 2021.
A second European team stepped on the podium as
Latvian Olympians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis
Smedins claimed bronze after they dominated
Brazilians Vitor Felipe and Renato Lima to a
two-set (22-20, 21-12) victory.
The experienced Latvians entered the Tlaxcala
Challenge determined to step on the podium for
the first time since August 2019, when they won
gold in events in Moscow and Jurmala, and
achieved their goal with solid performances in
Mexico.
“It was a good match,” Smedins reacted. “The
first set was really close but I felt like we
played much better in the second. We were really
excited to be playing in front of those amazing
fans, they gave us a lot of motivation. On
Monday we go to Rosarito and hopefully we can
get a good result there too.”
From Tlaxcala, the Beach Pro Tour heads to the
Mexican western coast city of Rosarito, which
will host the event’s first-ever Elite 16
tournament from March 23-27. |
