"It's unbelievable that we are two Swedish teams in the semifinals of the World Cup. In beach volleyball. We only ski in Sweden, so I don't know how it happened," says David Åhman jokingly in the official victory interview.
Åhman's knee problems in the fall meant that the reigning Olympic champions came to the World Championships with question marks over their form. After a tentative start – the Swedes only finished third in the group – Åhman and Hellvig have grown into the tournament. The quarter-final victory against the Brazilian duo Evandro/Arthur Lanci (22–20, 22–20) means that the blue-and-yellow pair has three straight 2–0 wins in the knockout matches.
Åhman, 23, and Hellvig, 24, had a set point against them in the second set but managed to win three straight points to take the match. In the semifinals, they will face the winner of the match between the Germans Ehlers/Wickler and the Czechs Perusic/Schweiner.
Jacob Hölting Nilsson, 20, and Elmer Andersson, 19, meanwhile, continue to impress in the pair's first World Championship. They won the quarter-finals against Americans Chaim Schalk and James Shaw in straight sets (21–18, 22–20) and became the first pair to reach the semi-finals.
I don't really know what to say. We know that we can beat many good teams, but that we can keep up this level for so long... It's super fun, says Hölting Nilsson to SVT.
In Saturday's semi-final, they will have the opportunity to take revenge on the French Teo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat. The pairs met in the group stage earlier in the World Cup, when the Swedes lost the fight for the group victory after a hard-fought deciding set.
In the best case, it will be an all-Swedish World Cup final on Sunday. In the worst case, it will be a Swedish World Cup bronze, since a medal is secured thanks to the two semifinal places.
