Back to back medals for Bialokoz and Batrane

A 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-12) victory over the Lithuanina pair of Juchnevic and Vasiljev handed Freddie and Issa their second medal in as many weeks. 

Batrane showed his agility through out the match trying to cover every grain of sand with Bialokoz providing the fire power with both showcasing their skill, and an increased enthusiasm and confidence in their play.

Issa spoke to Volleyball England saying " We definitely know that we could have played a lot better than the semifinals, but we're glad to bounce back with a solid performance in the bronze medal game, especially losing the second set coming back to take the third."

"We really happy with our fight and sprits kick get kind of get back into it and take the game and yeah to keep pushing keep growing keep developed as a team especially with our new coach Freddie Fairburn. But also a big thank you to everybody else helped us get where are"

After a quick trip back across the Atlantic with their heads held high after winning gold at the Futures competition in Halifax, Freddie and Issa had another busy weekend of beach action ahead of them in Warsaw, Poland. 

They were drawn in the main draw with their first match against Ciemachowski and Groszek from the host nation. 

They started where they left off in Canada with a dominant display taking the match 2-0 (21-14, 21-17). 

Sadly they couldn’t keep that momentum in their next pool match against Andreasson and Andersson from Sweden. 

The Swedes took the first set with Freddie and Issa fighting back in the second taking it 22-20. However, in the third set, the Scandinavian pair were able to create a lead and then hold it, with the final set finishing 15-10.  

But the British pair weren’t going down without a fight and in the round of twelve came out swinging. 

They shocked the Polish pair of Jaroszczak and Lech in the first set with an impressive opening set of 21-11.

The Eastern European pair did manage to get back into the second set but just couldn’t find the same level that Issa and Freddie were on. They took the second set 21-19 setting up a quarter-final against the German pairing of Wust and Frobel. 

After a confident performance, against the Polish pair, they carried this strength into the quarter-final which again finished in a dominant 2-0 result. 

Both sets went the way of England with the same score line of 21-15. 

After four tiring performances, Freddie and Issa knew that heading into the semi-final it would be a tough match against the Austrian pair of Leitner and Pascariuc. 

The British pair started well but the Austrians’ (eventual winners of the tournament) power was just slightly too much with the team playing in red and purple taking the semi-final 2-0 (21-19, 21-17).

Freddie and Issa were announced last weekto be competing in the Queen and King of the Court showcase in London on the 20th and 21st of September. You can watch them live in Canary Wharf. Find out more details here.