On the beach, Germany takes all-European volleyball title

(BEIJING, June 1) -- German duo Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann beat Russian rivals Igor Kolodinsky and Dmitri Barsouk in a three set match (22-20, 13-21, 16-14) in 63 minutes, thus capturing the men's gold medal on Sunday at the Hyundai Open in Barcelona, reports FIVB.

"It was Julius' serving and our experience in SWATCH title matches that made the difference today," 32-year-old Dieckmann was quoted as saying after the game. This was his fifth, and Brink's fourth, FIVB gold.

Since 1987, when the sport of beach volleyball became internationally recognized on the world competition scene, there have been 214 SWATCH FIVB World Tours, including this one in Barcelona. However, all-European finales have been relatively rare, with the competition on Sunday being only the ninth.