30/07/2017 23:10
Teams from Russia and Germany claim top honours from Mersin Satellite
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite Mersin
Mersin, Turkey, July 30, 2017. Russia’s Igor Velichko/Maxim Sivolap and Germany’s Katarina Schillerwein/Cinja Tillmann were the eventual winners of the CEV double-gender Satellite Mersin, which ended on Sunday night at Marina Mersin, Turkey. Velichko/Sivolap improved on the silver medal they won a week earlier at a CEV Masters tournament in Ljubljana where Velichko had to withdraw from the gold medal match due to injury – whereas Schillerwein/Tillmann celebrated their second straight gold medal on the European Tour after they stood on top of the podium a week ago in Vilnius as well.
Velichko/Sivolap started their campaign on Sunday morning with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Germany’s Philipp Arne Bergmann/Yannick Harms (17-21, 21-17, 20-18) in a match where the teams had to cope also with the very challenging weather conditions – since it was incredibly hot at Marina Mersin. After losing the first set, the Russians came back strong and extended the match to a tiebreak where they emerged victorious at the end of a real battle.
In the semis, Velichko/Sivolap beat Estonia’s Mart Tiisaar/Kusti Nõlvak in three sets as well (18-21, 21-19, 15-10). “It was a difficult match but we somehow knew we were going to emerge victorious from this game,” the Russians said. “We are very happy with progressing to the finals and we think that we have some good chances in the match against Norway.”
Norway’s Lars Tveit Retterholt/Daniel Bergerud had progressed to the ‘grand finale’ after a bye in their first match of the day following the withdrawal of Ukraine’s Mykola Babich and Iaroslav Gordieiev before stamping a 30-28, 21-12 victory in their semi-final with Serbia’s Lazar Kolaric and Djordje Klasnic, when temperatures in Mersin rose above 40 degrees. The players had to drink cold tea during the match to make up for the dehydration they suffered during the game. “We started the game a bit nervously due to the heat and the wind,” Retterholt commented. “After that, we adjusted our game to the tactics of our opponents and Daniel did some damage with his blocks.” “The first set was very close,” Bergerud added. “The score remained close from start to end. However, after taking such close first set, we knew we would win the game too.”
Kolaric/Klasnic regrouped to take the bronze medal after edging Tiisaar/Nõlvak 19-21, 21-16, 15-5. “I congratulate Estonia. It was a very difficult match between these two sides. We are obviously very happy with the victory,” Djordje Klasnic said. “I am very grateful to everyone here, and it is very gratifying to win in such a spectacular atmosphere, in front of such an audience,” Kolaric commented. “This was only our second Satellite tournament together. We are obviously happy with taking the bronze medal.”
In the final, Velichko and Sivolap cruised to a 21-16, 21-17 victory over Retterholt and Bergerud to finish their campaign on Turkish soil with gold.
In the women’s competition, Russia’s Yulia Abalakina/Ksenia Dabizha and Schillerwein/Tillmann made it to the semis via the losers’ bracket. Abalakina/Dabizha beat Switzerland’s Laura Caluori and Nicole Eiholzer 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-11) whereas the Germans cruised to a 2-0 victory over Russia’s Alexandra Moiseeva/Ekaterina Syrtseva (21-14, 21-10). After that, Schillerwein and Tillmann beat the Ukrainian twin sisters Inna and Iryna Makhno 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) to progress to the final. “We are very happy to be in the final. Ukraine was a very strong opponent and it was a tough match for us. We fought against Ukraine and the hot weather but we won against both. On Saturday we suffered one setback but we came back strong through the losers’ bracket,” Katarina Schillerwein said.
After that, the Germans triumphed with gold as they beat Belgium’s Liesbeth Mouha and Katrien Gielen in the final (22-20, 22-20) in front of full stands with the Germans scoring the deciding points to emerge victorious at the end of a closely contested final.
The Makhno sisters settled for the bronze medal as they beat Abalakina/Dabizha 2-0 (21-13, 21-15). This result accounts for their second consecutive bronze medal on the European Tour since they had finished third in Ljubljana a week ago as well. “We are very happy that we came to Mersin to compete in this tournament and with this medal as well,” the Ukrainian twins said. “We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organisation of this event.”
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