The Hague, the Netherlands, July 4, 2015 – Reindeer Nummerdor/Christian Varenhorst brought the atmosphere to new levels in The Hague on Saturday after they defeated Pedro Solberg/Evandro Gonclaves 21-18, 213-23, 15-12 to reach their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships final.
The home pair received huge support from the capacity crowd, with the action on court bringing them to their feet.
Nummerdor/Varenhorst came out firing, scoring three points straight away and forcing Pedro/Evandro into an early timeout. The break allowed the Brazilian duo time to regroup and they eventually took the lead at 11-10. But the lead changed once again with the home pair edging ahead 17-16 and eventually taking the set to the elation of the crowd.
The roles were reversed at the beginning of the second, with Pedro/Evandro taking a 3-0 lead and Nummerdor/Varenhorst calling for the timeout. However it had little impact, with Pedro, a three-time age-group world champion, scoring to make it 7-5. But the Dutch fed off the home fans to regain the lead. It stayed even for the remainder of the set before Pedro/Evandro converted an incredible rally at 23-21 to draw the match level.
The match remained close, with some powerful Evandro spikes being countered by blocks from Varenhorst in a true battle of the giants. The Dutch carved out a three point lead, but this was quickly reduced again by their Brazilian rivals. But they finally reached set point and an Evandro error sent the supporters into a frenzy as Nummerdor/Varenhorst gained revenge for their loss to the same pair at the Stavanger Major earlier this year.