Crazy Sunday

After bronze in Wolfurt, the wedding awaits

Jakob Reiter stretched himself in vain on Sunday.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"Before I went to sleep, I told myself that I would definitely be happy on Sunday, no matter what happened," revealed Jakob Reiter. "I was just looking forward to being able to play two more games in front of these great fans." However, he did not yet know what the final day of the 35th edition of the Wolfurt Trophy, which this year also included the state championship titles, would have in store for him.

The semi-final duel against the duo Paul Pascariuc and Laurenz Leitner - against whom he had suffered a hard-fought 19:21, 23:25 defeat in the pool phase - started at 10 am. However, without the obligatory beach volleyball music. "It was a strange feeling," admits Reiter, who was already supported by some vocal fans despite the early start time.

Opponents were too strong
Reiter's hopes of taking revenge on the two Salzburgers with his Styrian friend and partner Philipp Waller were quickly dashed: after less than 45 minutes of play, the duo had to leave the center court as 15:25, 12:21 losers. "That was nothing," was the sober analysis of the 26-year-old from Dornbirn. "They always knew in advance what I was going to do. That's why it was very difficult for me to score points."

The defeat meant that Reiter/Waller's chance of winning the national championship and their second Wolfurt title was gone - but suddenly the match for third place was too! Just a few moments after the end of the match, the pair were informed that Mathias Seiser - who plays with Laurenc Grössig in the Ländle - was suffering from food poisoning, which simply made it impossible for him to play on the final day.

The young Reiter fans were delighted to receive a jersey from their idol.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

"It's a brutal shame, of course, and I hope he gets better soon," said a worried Reiter, who also missed his sixth game of the weekend. "Although I'm generally in favor of abolishing the third-place match anyway." Despite the "aftertaste", Jakob was ultimately delighted with third place, his second-best Wolfurt result - after the 2019 title.

Jakob Reiter received a more than deserved kiss from his wife-to-be.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

Immediately after the award ceremony, however, his focus turned to Wednesday. That's when he will marry his long-term partner Andji Pejic in Dornbirn. "And then we'll finally go on our honeymoon. We've both really earned it now," Reiter revealed with a wink.