1996 was the season that marked the last FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour men’s golden triumph for Canadian pairs. The country’s legendary team John Child and Mark Heese won the tournament in Berlin back then and now, 18 years later, the North American land’s flag is waving high above the medal ceremony platform once again.
Having already meliorated their fourth-place finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Slam a month ago, Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter entered the final in the Argentinian city of Parana on Sunday evening eyeing to set their best World Tour position ever. The team on the other half of the court was not less interesting to watch. The Chilean cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt, 23 and 25 respectively, had never even finished among the best 8 in any of their previous World Tour appearances. However, the pressure in the gold medal match was clearly on the cousins’ side as they failed to deliver more than 26 points in two sets (14-21, 12-21). Despite the defeat, the Chileans earned their country’s historic first FIVB World Tour medals.
Binstock was overjoyed at the end, commenting: “This is amazing that we can make history here. We kept the focus throughout the match and we didn’t make many mistakes. Sam played very well this entire tournament and to put together a run of seven straight match wins in a World Tour event is really like a dream come true. We are very happy. The outcome of the gold medal match was determined much more easily than we expected, because Chile’s Grimalts have a great team. I don’t think they played their best and we certainly played our best. We are really working hard and improving every week.”
The riverside city of Parana, making its World Tour debut as an event organizer, will be eternally inscribed in Canadian beach volleyball history. And it’s not just because of Binstock-Schachter‘s title. Two hours before the final match another Canadian duo, Chaim Schalk (28) and Ben Saxton (25), won the bronze medals. It was the first time that Schalk-Saxton ever stood on a World Tour podium. The promising North Americans have a record of top 10 places in multiple occasions during the past two seasons, including a spectacular 5th position at the 2013 World Championship in Stare Jablonki. But they are admittedly more delighted to add a medal collection to their careers.
In the third-place game Schalk-Saxton overcame Germany’s Sebastian Fuchs and Thomas Kaczmarek in straight sets (21-15, 21-10). It’s still an improvement for the 2003 Pattaya Youth World champions who experienced different career paths by changing many partners over the years. Fuchs-Kaczmarek have shone more in the national tour of Germany, as well as lower ranked CEV Satellites and FIVB Challenger events. Usually in the shadow of internationally more experienced and successful compatriots, Fuchs and Kaczmarek might find some confidence to strive for more World Tour glory, following their fourth place in Argentina.
After the bronze medal victory, Schalk stated, “We are very happy and still a bit angry about that three-set defeat in the semifinals. Anyway, we enjoy this because it is our first medal and we also played in our first final four on the FIVB World Tour. It is an honor to win a medal for Canada. It’s kind of a way of saying thank you to our federation for all of the help they have given us to this point. We went to all 10 FIVB Grand Slam events this year as well as this Open in Argentina which has really helped us develop as a team.”
Pictures: FIVB
