Kish Island, February 18, 2017 – After the last three days of cold and wet weather, the sun finally showed up and heated up the final of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Kish Island 3-Star at Kish Marine Recreational and Sports Complex on Saturday.

Nikita Liamin and Viacheslav Krasilnikov’s second World Tour event of the season worked like a charm, as they captured the gold medal at the Kish Island 3-Star – the launchpad for the new star structure, featuring the single elimination format for events with the 1-Star to 4-Star rating.

Liamin/Krasilnikov’s fine performance throughout the tournament and their outstanding performance in the final against Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak of Poland yielded them the top spot in the podium. The newly formed Russian tandem’s climb to the top indicates great chances in the succeeding events of the season.

“The gold medal is very important for us, not only because it is a new season but also because we are a newly-formed team,” Liamin said. “It was really great to play in the final on a sunny day, even though the wind conditions have been quite difficult today. This victory makes us really confident for the rest of the season.”

Kantor/Losiak silver medal, on the other hand, is already a great follow-up to their bronze medal finish at Kish Island last year.

Meanwhile, another Russian pair – Oleg Stoyanovksiy/Artem Yarzutkin – made it to the podium this year. The silver medallists from last year’s Kish Island Open retained their composure to win against young German pair Lorenz Schumann/Julius Thole in the bronze medal match.