Court/ Schumann at Beach Volleyball World Champs

ML at Beach Volleyball World Champs.

 

Mata Leao’s beach volleyball ambassadors Josh Court and Damien Schumann recently competed at the World Championships in the Netherlands. The boys managed one win for two losses and only narrowly missed out on moving further through the tournament.

 

Their tournament started with a very close loss against Alison / Bruno from Brazil, the eventual tournament winners. A disappointing loss to world no. 8 Austria left the team somewhat deflated. However, the confidence derived from playing so well against the eventual world champions saw the boys refocus and prepare well for their match against Qatar.

 

Qatar had beaten Austria and ended up 5th for the tournament, a mighty achievement. Patience was key in delivering the team strategy of a slow strangulation. Final score saw Josh and Damo victorious 21-19, 26-24 in a brutally close game requiring total concentration.

 

Haydn Ellis, the team’s coach had this to say; “It was great training in the Mata Leao gear. The Brazilian teams sure took notice. And to play so well against the winning Brazilians was a huge psychological boost for the team.”

 

The boys head back to Australia now for an intensive period of training and preparation before heading over to Turkey to continue their World Tour campaign.