Success for Fijalek & Prudel

When asked about his partnership with Mariusz Prudel, Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek said “our success came through hard work, but we also had a lot of luck!”

And Olympic and world champion Todd Rogers said "I think Fijalek's game was similar to mine. He had a great line shot, hit and chop down the line that opened up the rest of his game. Prudel was a smaller blocker for World Tour standards but was very athletic, jumped really well with a great arm swing.”

Prior to Fijalek and Prudel's arrival on the beach volleyball scene, Poland had been recognized as an indoor power. The European country did not host an international beach event until 2004 when Stare Jablonki started an 11-season run highlighted by the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in the Mazury region.

“We were one of the first competitive teams from our country, so we were writing the history of Polish beach volleyball,” said Fijalek. “Since we were the first team, the federation paid for our tournaments and travel. This allowed us to grow.”

Prudel said the team’s development “wasn’t easy because we didn’t really know where to start. We had no one around to model ourselves after, we just had to watch and learn. We worked on developing our block-defense system. One breakthrough came along with a new foreign coach - Martin Olejnik from Slovakia. He organised the way we cooperated inside the court. We were really curious about the world and very motivated. Each one of us had a different way of pursuing our goal but we arrived there together.”

Fijalek and Prudel’s first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event together in 2008 at a Czech Republic event proved to be a success as the pair won three qualifying matches in Prague to earn a main draw berth where the Polish pair upset top-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Solberg of Brazil 2-1 (13-21, 22-20, 15-12) in a 55-minute first-round match.

“At our first tournament together in Prague, we started in one of the last spots in the qualifying round,” said Fijalek. “We would go on to the main phase and defeat the team seeded as No. 1. When playing with Mariusz, we never lost a qualifying round match. I think we could have been the only ones to do so.”

Fijalek was right on the qualifying record as he and Prudel had an 8-0 World Tour qualifying mark during their first two years on the FIVB circuit as the pair competed together for nine-straight seasons highlighted by a winning record each campaign with 10 podium placements in 86 events with 16 final four finishes and 34 quarterfinal appearances.

The Polish pair competed in five World Tour finals with one gold medal at The Hague in the Netherlands where the sixth-seeded Fijalek and Prudel upset top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal 2-1 (21-18, 13-21, 15-13) in the 59-minute final. A month earlier in Moscow, Fijalek and Prudel had defeated the Americans in the semifinals.

“It was one of three memorable matches for us,” said Prudel in winning Poland’s first-ever World Tour gold medal.

The next week in the United States at Long Beach, the two teams would meet again as the Americans reversed the decision against Fijalek and Prudel with a 2-1 (22-24, 21-17, 15-19) win in a 60-minute gold medal match to even the series between the two teams at 2-2.

Another memorable match for Fijalek and Prudel was at the London 2012 Olympic Games where the Polish pair dropped a 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 17-15) quarterfinal match in 57 minutes to eventual silver medal winners Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil.

“I had the match ball in the air,” said Fijalek, who had lost two final four matches the previous season with Prudel against Alison and Emanuel. “The Brazilian player did not admit to touching the ball in the block - he only did so after the game. This will stay in my head for the rest of my life - we lost the chance for a medal, a chance of fulfilling our dreams.”

Fijalek also cited a 2011 match in Norway against Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann as memorable where he and Prudel posted a 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) pool play win in 42 minutes. “The semifinals were at stake,” said Fijalek, “and it was the first time we won against them. The Germans were the world champions and eventual Olympic champions. We did so decisively.”

As for tough opponents, Fijalek and Prudel named Dalhauser/Todd Rogers, Emanuel/Ricardo Santos and Emanuel/Alison. “I don’t think we ever managed to win against Phil and Todd,” said Fijalek. And Prudel also cited the Czech Republic pair of Petr Benes/Premysl Kubala.

While compatriots Piotr and Bartosz Losiak have bettered their run on the World Tour with 14 podium placements, two gold medals, eight event finals and 17 final four appearances, Fijalek and Prudel will long be remembered as the country’s first competitive beach team.

In addition to posting a 266-167 (61.4 winning percentage) record on the FIVB World Tour, Fijalek and Prudel also competed in 21 European tour events with a 55-32 match mark (63.2%) with five podiums, one gold medal and 10 semifinal appearances. Fijalek and Prudel captured the bronze medals at the 2013 and 2016 European Championships.

Since breaking up following the Rio Olympics and Toronto World Tour Finals in 2016, Prudel has competed on the World Tour with six different partners, while Fijalek has been paired with Michal Bryl as the team are currently ranked fifth on the international circuit.

Both players have won gold medals on the FIVB World Tour the past four seasons with Prudel teaming with Jakub Szalankiewicz to capture the 2018 Kish Island stop in Iran and Fijalek and Bryl claiming a gold medal in March 2020 at Doha, Qatar.

Read more: Roster 100 to showcase stars of volleyball and beach volleyball

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