Beachvolleyball players Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde won bronze at the European Championship in Düsseldorf on Sunday. In the consolation final, the duo defeated compatriots Yorick de Groot and Stefan Boermans in three exciting sets: 11-21, 26-24 and 15-13.
Brouwer and Van de Velde seemed to be heading for a painful defeat in the first set. Boermans and De Groot quickly took a 5-10 lead and seemed on their way to a simple victory.
Brouwer and Van de Velde tried to close the five-point gap, but barely got a look in during the opening set. Boermans and De Groot pushed through and won the first set by a whopping ten points: 11-21.
In a thrilling second set, the Dutch duos were evenly matched. Brouwer and Van de Velde made up a two-point deficit, after which it was tit-for-tat in Düsseldorf. Both De Groot/Boermans and Brouwer/Van de Velde got set points.
After a good serve from Van de Velde, De Groot hit the ball out of bounds on setpoint, meaning a third and decisive set was required. In that set, Brouwer and Van de Velde came out on top.
Brouwer and Van de Velde have only been a duo since this season. Former world champion Brouwer was a successful duo with Robert Meeuwsen for many years, but he decided to end his career after missing out on the Olympic Games in Paris.
Van de Velde formed a duo with Matthew Immers during the Games, with whom he won bronze at the European Championship in The Hague last year. Brouwer and Meeuwsen also won bronze at a European Championship in 2017.