Lucerne, Switzerland, May 17, 2015 – Turkey’s Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gögtepe defeated Switzerland’s Beeler/Strasser 2:1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-4) to make history with their country's first-ever medal in the FIVB World Tour.
The over 2,500 Swiss spectators were hyped for the big bronze medal game between their local heroes Beeler/Strasser and the Turks Giginoglu/Gögtepe; both teams wanted to get their first bronze medal.
Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a great first set with long and thrilling rallies. The Turks, however, were able to take over the reins to increase their lead to 20-13. Beeler/Strasser didn’t want to give in – and fought five match balls off, but eventually fell 18-21 to the Turks.
The Swiss did better in the second set; they found back to their game of the last few days – and newcomer Nico Beeler made the difference with some big saves. The Swiss eventually delighted their huge home crowd with the result of 21-18;
Everything was set for the comeback in the tiebreak - except Beeler/Strasser. The local heroes started to struggle – most of all with themselves. The Turks, on the other hand, took advantage of this down in the tiebreak – and scored over ten points in a row. Beeler/Strasser couldn’t strike back and so Giginoglu/Gögtepe eventually prevailed 15-4 in the tiebreak to clinch their first-ever bronze medal and the prize money in the amount of 6,000 US Dollar.
Switzerland’s Alexei Strasser quarrelled with their performance after the game. “We played great Beach Volleyball in the second set, but just lost our pace in the tiebreak. No doubt, it’s disappointing – but we can be confident since it’s our first tournament as team,” Strasser said.
The Turks, on the other hand, just were overwhelmed by their first-ever bronze medal in the FIVB World Tour. “We played a really good game. It’s a huge win for us and we are just happy that our hard work in the winter already pays off here in Lucerne”, Murat Giginoglu explained and concluded: “Nevertheless, we want to focus now on the Moscow Open and the other tournaments. This bronze medal is just a first step on the long road to Rio.”