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Beach volleyball World Cup final in live ticker: Thole / Wickler reach for gold
Thole / Wickler - Krasilnikow / Stoyanovsky (start 14.00 clock)
12.30 clock: Welcome, dear beach volleyball fans, the FOCUS online live ticker of the World Cup finals with German participation. At 2 pm, Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler fight for gold in Hamburg!
Actually, the Thole / Wickler project was geared towards the Olympics in 2024, sporting director Niclas Hildebrand revealed. But the young Hamburg beach volleyball duo even surprised their own association with its lightning development. "They are already the new figurehead," explained Hildebrand.
Olympic ticket is at stake
On Sunday, local hero Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler from Starnberg will not only be world champions at the World Championships, but will also book the direct ticket for the next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo, which the World Champion will receive in men and women.
"We would not have won the match in any other stadium," said the 24-year-old defender and Hammer-Aufschläger Wickler after the 2-1 semi-final win against top favorites Anders Mol and Christian Sorum from Norway. Even a set backlog could not stop the German youngsters. "There was a total ecstasy in the game," noted 2.06-meter man Thole.
Now exactly ten years after the World Cup triumph of the Olympic champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann in 2009, the duo can win the second world title in the sand for Germany's men in Stavanger. More than 50 personal fans from Wickler's family and his Bavarian circle of friends and much more from Thole's environment in Hamburg will be present at the stadium on Rothenbaum.
Russian duo is waiting as an opponent
Final opponents are the aspiring young Russians Vyacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovsky. Twice Thole / Wickler have played against them this season - and lost twice. "These are both amazing players, they can do a great job," said 24-year-old Wickler: "But in a World Cup final, you can not expect your opponent to play volleyball." With a good tactic, a good game and the audience behind them, "something is possible against them," said Wickler.
After his national championship title in 2017 together with Tim Holler, the German Volleyball Federation (DVV) surprisingly forced him to associate with the law student Thole. A very wise decision, even if the beginning was agonizing, as Wickler admits: "We have a tough road behind us." Now they have at least silver and thus the fifth World Cup medal for German beach men sure. Six years ago, Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik won the Bronze medal in Stare Jablonki, Poland.