The Hague, The Netherlands, June 12, 2013 – Dutch stars Richard Schuil and Reinder Nummerdor could not crown their comeback on the FIVB World Tour with a victory. They were defeated in two sets (21-19, 21-14) by Polish junior world champions Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak at the Transavia The Hague Grand Slam on Wednesday.
The Dutch veterans took a break after the 2012 London Olympic Games to deal with their disappointment over losing the bronze medal match. They even considered ending their careers, but in the end they did not. The Hague is their first tournament since last summer.
Lacking rhythm
“I thought too lightly about this”, Nummerdor said afterwards. “But it is ok. It would be too easy winning right away.” Schuil: “We lack rhythm. Especially in the passing and setting and normally those are our strong points. We are a little bit rusty.”
Although they lost, Nummerdor and Schuil enjoyed their comeback. “It was nice to see all the guys again. The atmosphere was good”, Nummerdor said. “But to lose like this of course is no fun at all. We just take it one match at a time and try to improve. We need to otherwise there’s no fun this year.”