2016-04-14 16:35:00 CEST
Bryl and Kujawiak making a mockery of their 27th-seed status!
The Polish underdogs at rainy Xiamen Open
Watch out world… there’s a pair of young Polish beach volleyball superstars making shockwaves in China this week.
Step forward 21-year-olds Michal Bryl and Kacper Kujawiak who have brushed aside their lowly status of 27th seed qualifiers at the Xiamen Open to make it through to the second knockout stage!
They made sure that their lowly reputation went out of the window when in the first group match in Pool E they pulled off arguably the shock of the tournament so far.
Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo (ITA) were hot favourites to win the group and nobody gave Bryl and Kujawiak a chance…but the Italians didn’t count on an inspired performance from their Polish counterparts and the outsiders secured an epic 2-1 victory. What a way to make your mark!
And, although the young guns lost their second pool match to Chilean cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt, they booked their place in the second round by coming out on top against Belgians Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle.
There’s nothing more we like here at Swatch Major Series than an underdog and we look forward to monitoring their progress in Xieman this week. Byrl and Kujawiak face an anxious wait to find out who will they will take on in the second round and who would bet against them winning a place in the last eight?
The quarter-finals could be in touching distance for the Poles – and who would have thought that at the start of the week when they kicked-off their qualification against Oscar Brandao and Andre Loyola on Tuesday. That’s just the beauty of beach volleyball!
As they say in Poland, “powodzenia!” Good luck boys!