On a day when their compatriots, the Olympic and world champions, failed to reach the final, they defeated Italy’s Rio 2016 silver medallists Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai to take the gold at the Croatian venue.

Seeded ninth after winning their country quota and qualifying matches earlier in the competition, Guto and Solberg, playing in only their fifth FIVB World Tour event together, earned seven more victories to claim their title.

A 21-15, 21-16 semi-final victory over the Russian pairing of Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin in 34 minutes set up their finale with the Italians, which they won after coming from a set down, with a final score of 18-21, 25-23, 15-9.

Lupo and Nicolai had reached the final with their second success this week over Brazil’s reigning Olympic and world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt with a 17-21, 21-17, 15-11 win in 49 minutes.

With Vienna hosting the 2017 FIVB World Championships, starting July 28, Guto and Solberg will be hoping to use the title as a springboard to the golden trophy.

Due to heavy rains, the gold medal match started 15 minutes late while the bronze medal match was moved to conclude the competition for the third annual event.

Alison and Bruno captured the bronze medal with a 21-15, 21-18 win in 31 minutes over Stoyanovskiy and Yarzutkin.