For only the second time ever, a Swedish team will play in the final of the Beach Volleyball World Championship. In just a few hours, it could also be clear that Sweden will win its very first World Championship gold.
Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson took revenge on French Teo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and made it to the duo's first ever international senior championship final. Later, Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonathan Hellvig could join them.
"You don't really understand when you're in it, what awaits you. It's something you've dreamed of since you were little," says Jacob Hölting Nilsson after the semi-final victory.
The 20-year-old and teammate Elmer Andersson got off to a real dream start in their semifinal.
Compelling game
At 10–4, the French national team captain was forced to take a timeout to try to find a way to get the block game going.
We went out and got hold of them right away, says Elmer Andersson.
The French woke up a little and the enthusiastic visitors who had made their way to the arena along the Torrens River in central Adelaide were treated to long battles for points at times. Much to the chagrin of the loud French fans, the French never really came close to taking the lead. Hölting Nilsson and Andersson took the first set 21–18.
We lost to them in the group stage 2-1 and immediately felt that we had more to give, and we showed that today, says Hölting Nilsson.
It was a much more even second set where the Swedes initially had some difficulty getting the game going. But halfway through something happened and most of it went the Swedes' way. Jacob Hölting Nilsson was finally able to smash home the set and the match with 21–17.
Could be a dream final
This means that Höltning Nilsson and Andersson will leave Australia with their first World Cup medal ever.
"I'm not thinking about the medal that much yet. There's one match left to play and it's a match like any other," says Andersson.
But for the Swedish side, the match could be a unique story. If David Åhman and Jonathan Hellvig win their semi-final against the Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler, it will be an all-Swedish dream final. Never before have two Swedish teams won medals in the same championship, let alone the two noblest.
We wish them all the best and hope for an all-Swedish final, says Jacob Hölting Nilsson.
