They’re not invincible, but pretty close. Norway’s Anders Mol (22) and Christian Sorum (23) won their seventh World Tour event this season by defending their Vienna Major title with a straight-set win over Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho, 21-11, 21-17.
True, they “only” won the bronze medal at the World Championships, but playing tournament after tournament against the world’s best, they have now won 20 straight matches in World Tour play and 61 of their 65 matches this season!
With seven wins, they are now tied for second all-time with seven wins in a season; it’s been done by three other teams a total of four times. The record for a single season is nine wins by Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, back in 2010. Dalhausser, now paired with Nick Lucena, placed fourth in Vienna.
Mol and Sorum’s run actually got going in 2018, when they reunited in mid-year and then started winning, including the Vienna Major and the World Tour Final. “It’s so hard to describe because one year ago, two years ago, we were watching the stars on YouTube,” Sorum said. “I was playing some qualifications, some opens and two years later we are No. 1 in the world, and we play in tournaments in front of people like this, we beat teams like Alison, a legend in the sport.”
The victory was worth $40,000 to the Norwegians, same as received by Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who had to wait for the women’s final until Sunday due to a weather delay.
The world champs defeated Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carol Salgado by 21-19, 21-16 in 47 minutes to win their third World Tour tournament this season and sixth together.
“We got better and better as the tournament went on,” said Pavan. “That’s always been our motto all season, just one percent better every game and I think we did that. Our serving was very effective in that last set, as good as it’s ever been. We put it all together at a good time.”
The season is winding down, with some minor tournaments still to be played, plus a four-star in Moscow from 14-18 August and the World Tour Final in Rome from 4-8 September. Summaries:
FIVB World Tour/5-star Major
Vienna (AUT) ~ 31 July-4 August 2019
(Full results here)
Men: 1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR); 2. Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho (BRA); 3. Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl (POL); 4. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (USA). Third: Fijalek/Bryl d. Dalhausser/Lucena, 2-1. Final: Mol/Sorum d. Alison/Alvaro Filho, 2-0 (21-11, 21-17).
Women: 1. Saran Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN); 2. Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA); 3. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA); 4. Talita Da Rocha Antunes/Taiana Lima (BRA). Third: Agatha/Duda d. Talita/Taiana Lima, 2-0. Final: Pavan/Humana-Paredes d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0 (21-19, 21-16).