Michal Bryl’s and Bartosz Losiak’s first tournament as partners ended with the Polish Olympians displaying gold medals around their necks as they were the winners of the first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event, a Challenge tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico, which came to an end on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Bryl and the 29-year-old Losiak looked like old partners the entire week and ended the tournament in stellar fashion, taking Chilean sensations Vicente Droguett and Noe Aravena down in two sets (21-17, 21-16) in the gold medal match, which was played in front of a packed Plaza de la Constitucion.

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The final in Tlaxcala was a good reflection of the excellent level the Polish team displayed the entire week as they won all six matches they played in Mexico this week and lost a single set, in the semifinals.

“We feel amazing,” Losiak commented. “This was our first tournament together and we won it. It was a great start to the year for us. I was really impressed with the atmosphere here in Tlaxcala. I don’t remember ever playing in such an electric stadium before.”

This was the second victory in Bryl’s career – he had won an FIVB World Tour event in Doha with former partner Grzegorz Fijalek in 2020. Losiak, on the other hand, had won three golds with his previous teammate, Piotr Kantor, between 2016 and 2021.

Tlaxcala results

A second European team stepped on the podium as Latvian Olympians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins claimed bronze after they dominated Brazilians Vitor Felipe and Renato Lima to a two-set (22-20, 21-12) victory.

The experienced Latvians entered the Tlaxcala Challenge determined to step on the podium for the first time since August 2019, when they won gold in events in Moscow and Jurmala, and achieved their goal with solid performances in Mexico.

“It was a good match,” Smedins reacted. “The first set was really close but I felt like we played much better in the second. We were really excited to be playing in front of those amazing fans, they gave us a lot of motivation. On Monday we go to Rosarito and hopefully we can get a good result there too.”

From Tlaxcala, the Beach Pro Tour heads to the Mexican western coast city of Rosarito, which will host the event’s first-ever Elite 16 tournament from March 23-27.

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Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
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