NUMBER TWO: Anders Mol and Christian Sørum are number two on the official ranking of the International Volleyball Association. Photo: Bjørn S. Delebekk / VG
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TOKYO (VG) Anders Mol (24) and Christian Sørum (25) have been ranked as the world’s best beach volleyball pair since August 2018. Now they have moved one place down.
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It is on the International Volleyball Federation’s list the world’s best team in the World Tour context the last year that the beach volleyball duo has reigned supreme since August 2018.
As of July 26, 2021, however, they have moved one place down. Now it is the Qatar duo Cherif / Ahmed who reign supreme. They have had an impressive season.
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See everything from the Olympics in Tokyo on discovery +
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For the record, there are several lists that rank the world’s best beach volleyball players. Anders Mol is quick to point out when he is confronted with the information by VG in the Olympic city of Tokyo.
– This depends on how you look at it, he says after victory against Spain in the second Olympic match.
– There are several rankings. On one ranking we are number two, but on another we are still number one. I think there is a third ranking that we lead as well. So we are still the best, says Mol with a smile.
Makker Sørum nods appreciatively next to him.
The duo is number two on two of three possible rankings. In the Olympic rankings, Mol and Sørum are still number one.
Father and coach Kåre Mol, on the other hand, do not care much.
– We do not care and do not follow that statistic. But we’ve lost some matches in tournaments now, so it’s nice that someone else can be there. But we will work hard to get back there again, he says.
Mol and Sørum had an impressive corona comeback when the season started in April. They won the first two tournaments in Mexico, beating Qatar in both finals. Then they stood over the third tournament in the same place, while this summer there has been a pole out for the now victorious boys.
In the last three tournaments before the Olympics, they could not play their way to the semifinals. After also overseeing the tournament in Mexico, they also dropped in the rankings.
– It does not worry us. Qatar has done some great tournaments, so that’s fine. We’ve been there a long time. It is more important to win matches here in the Olympics than to top that list, says Kåre Mol.
The Qatar duo has 5160 points on the list. Mol and Sørum have 4960, but have played two fewer tournaments (8 in total).
PS: The Olympics are broadcast on Discovery +. Mol and Sørum will play the group final against Russian Semenov / Leshukov on Wednesday 28 July at 15.00 Norwegian time.
The first version of this case stated that Mol and Sørum had fallen one place on one of three lists. The right thing is that they have fallen on two out of three. Modified Tuesday 11:20.
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