Mol about the illness: – It’s been absolutely awful

The European Beach Volleyball Championship starts today in the German city of Munich.

Only six days after Anders Mol and Christian Sørum had to withdraw from the World Tour tournament in Hamburg because the former was sent to hospital.

Coach father Kåre Mol has previously told TV 2 that the hospital stay is due to a “high fever” – but that he does not want to specify more than that.

According to NRK, Mol has been affected by an intense flu. He has had strep throat, strep throat and fever.

The 25-year-old from Strandvik does not hide that the last week has been very tough:

– It has been absolutely amazing, he notes, and elaborates:

– It has been an absolutely cruel disease. I have been bedridden for many, many days and felt pretty rubbish.

After several days of antibiotic treatment, lots of sleep and little activity, he is on the road to recovery.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., he and Sørum open the EC against the Israeli duo Eylon Elazar and Amiram Ohana:

– It will not be easy to play. It’s going to be a war, but I’m prepared for that.

Now there is extra pressure on the shoulders of his partner:

– Christian has to turn on his good form and play for at least one and a half of us, then I will play for half. It has been frustrating not to be in better shape than I have been in the days leading up to the EC.

Been plagued by injuries

The season has been a rollercoaster for Mol and Sørum.

They have had to withdraw from a total of three tournaments this season, whether it has been due to Mol’s disease or Sørum’s injury problems.

On the same day as they open the EC, they come up with the following form report:

– My form is bad. I have to spend the first games recovering. I have no idea how it will go, says Mol, and continues:

– I know that there is some reluctance in the body. I have hardly moved properly in a week and a half. It will of course help to shape everything I will do. Training is, after all, fresh produce.

Fortunately, the partner may be a little more satisfied with the current situation:

– I have struggled a bit with injury throughout the season, but my body feels pretty good now. I felt it a bit in my shoulder at the start of the Vienna tournament, but it just got better and better. So my body is great right now, he replies.

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Hope lives on

In the EC, Mol and Sørum are both title defenders and the first seed.

And not only that: They have actually won the tournament four times in a row – both in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Despite an unfavorable entry into this year’s EC, they believe the golden hope lives on:

– Do you still have hope of defending the title?

– Yes absolutely. We have played very well in the last few tournaments, so we just have to try to get going again. Hopefully, the disease will pass more and more through the initial games, then the big game can come later, says Mol, before the partner adds:

– We clearly want to defend the title, but it has not been optimal in the last week with Anders having been ill since Tuesday. It’s been a week since today. We haven’t had any training together.

– We had a small session yesterday of 20 minutes, and that’s all. There is no doubt that it is not optimal. Anders must get fully healthy and we must find form during the tournament if we are to have a chance of taking the title.

It’s barely two months since the super duo won their career’s first WC gold, which actually led to Mol’s grandmother having to get a tattoo.

PS: Mathias Berntsen and Hendrik Mol will also participate in the EC in Munich. Norway therefore has two teams on the men’s side.