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1 month ago
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Italian beach volleyball star Adrian Carambula pulled off an outrageous serve at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday night.
Carambula was playing alongside Alex Ranghieri as they took on Norwegian pair Anders Mol and Christian Soerum in their group stage match.
And the 36-year-old did not hold back on the biggest stage as he dipped into his box of tricks.
Carambula has become known as 'Mr Skyball' due to his signature move of hitting his serve high into the air with lots of spin on it so that it is difficult for opponents to control their return, and he did it in Paris.
Even attempting it is a bold move, but he was also able to get his accuracy spot on as it landed within the court and forced a response from the Norwegians.
Adrian Carambula pulled off his 'Skyball' serve at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday night
Carambula smashes the ball high into the air and lifts his leg for good effect
He revealed that he came up with a different way of serving due to his physical disadvantages
The Italian veteran previously explained why he does his 'Skyball' serve, as he stated that he needed to come up with something different due to only standing at 5ft 11in tall, with his opponents often towering over him.
'A lot of people identify with myself. I know it's not normal for me to be 181 [cm tall] and play at this level,' he told Olympics.com.
'I'm not the fastest either. I'm not the skinniest either, so I know that I represent a big community and it does feel good. I feel a little bit of responsibility with that.
'I have the serve that all the kids love, because it's almost from a superhero. It's the weapon that I use to serve. It catches people off rhythm. They lose a lot of notion of where they pass on the court, and with that my partner is able to get involved up ahead and get a lot of blocks.'
Carambula picked up the skill on the beaches of Miami, and revealed it now comes naturally to him.
'I just mastered it because I don't even practise it anymore. In the game and with the pressure, that's when it comes out.'
Carambula came out on the losing side on Wednesday, but he and his partner Alex Ranghieri did win their opening match on Sunday
Unfortunately for Carambula, his incredible serving could not steer Italy to victory as they were beaten 21-12, 21-15 by Mol and Soerum.
But Italy did win their opening group match on Sunday, meaning Carambula and Ranghieri still have a chance of qualifying for the latter stages of the competition.
They will be back in action on Friday when they take on Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt.
English (US)