Commonwealth Games: Javier and Joaquin Bello win beach volleyball bronze
- Published
'What a moment!' - Bello brothers win bronze in beach volleyball for England
2022 Commonwealth Games |
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Hosts: Birmingham Dates: 28 July to 8 August |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV with extra streams on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport mobile app; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra; live text and clips online. |
Twins Javier and Joaquin Bello cruised to a historic triumph as they won England's first beach volleyball medal at the Commonwealth Games.
The Bellos won 21-11 21-12 in their bronze medal match against Rwanda's Olivier Ntagengwa and Venuste Gatsinzi.
Birmingham's Smithfield erupted when they won with their second match point.
"It would've been amazing for us to win the first medal anywhere but to do it here, at home, it felt like the whole country was behind us," said Javier.
"Having all those people supporting us and enjoying beach volleyball, having our family there and being able to enjoy this moment with them is indescribable really.
"It's amazing and I hope we live another moment like this."
The 22-year-old twins were born in Madrid and started playing volleyball when they were six, but moved to London aged 10.
They won gold for England at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games before claiming the first World Tour medal for a British men's team with a bronze in 2019.
The pair topped that achievement by securing World Tour gold in Portugal last year and warmed up for the Commonwealths by winning the NEVZA Beach Championships in June.
Away from the beach volleyball court, Javier is a graduate of politics, philosophy and economics from the Royal Holloway University, while Joaquin is studying medicine at Imperial College.
A series of superb performances in Birmingham captured the imagination of the home fans, who provided plenty of noise in a boisterous atmosphere where music and dancers provide entertainment throughout the match.
The Bellos missed out on a guaranteed medal after losing to Canada in the semi-final on Saturday, but responded with a quality performance against their Rwandan opponents to deliver bronze on Sunday.
"We were gutted after the loss yesterday but today we had the most important match of our lives," said Joaquin.
"We performed incredibly, probably the best match we played all tournament, and I'm so proud of my brother and the way he played."
Australia won gold for the second successive Games as Chris McHugh - who triumphed alongside the now-retired Damien Schumann in 2018 - and Paul Burnett beat Canada's Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing later on Sunday.
In the women's tournament, Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan won gold, beating Australia's Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar 22-24 21-17 15-12.
Miller Pata and Tini Toko won bronze for Vanuatu - the South Pacific nation's first medal of the Games.