24/09/2017 23:00
Borger and Kozuch live up to expectations to claim gold at Satu Mare Satellite
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Satu Mare
Satu Mare, Romania, September 24, 2017. Five of the six matches on schedule for the last day of competition at the CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite in Satu Mare ended in three sets. This highlights the high level of the tournament as well as of the performance displayed by the participating teams – with top seeds Karla Borger and Margareta Kozuch of Germany eventually standing on top of the podium to live up to their status and to the expectations.
The final day of the tournament featured the largest audience, the stands being always full, and it started with a disappointment for the Romanian spectators, as they could not help home stars Adriana-Maria Matei/Beata Vaida in their effort to progress to the semis. Even though they claimed the first set (21-17), the Romanians could no longer pose a threat to the second seeds of the tournament, Ukraine's Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Shchypkova, who eventually prevailed 21-19 and 15-10.
Ukraine’s very good day continued with the Makhno sisters, who also managed to reach the semi-finals in three sets, after stamping a 2-1 victory (21-16, 17-21, 15-10) over Poland’s Katarzyna Kociolek and Kinga Kolosinska.
The semi-finals brought the only game, which finished in two sets, the ticket to the final going to Davidova and Shchypkova who beat Russia’s Olga Motrich and Svetlana Kholomina 21-19, 21-18. Earlier on Saturday, Shchypkova had set the bar high. “I hope to grow in the next matches and why not, to reach the finals. We feel good here in Satu Mare, and we can play better,” she said – and this is what they actually did.
Borger and Kozuch had to work hard in their matchup with the Makhno sisters but they ultimately secured their spot in the gold medal match after edging their Ukrainian rivals 15-13 at the tiebreak.
Makhno/Makhno regrouped after this setback to claim a 2-1 victory (18-21, 21-18, 15-12) in the bronze medal match with Motrich/Kholomina to secure a second medal for Ukraine in Satu Mare.
Davidova and Shchypkova started the ‘grand finale’ by taking a dramatic first set 26-24, but Borger and Kozuch fought their way back to secure a 2-1 victory (24-26, 21-15, 15-8) and claim the top honours from the tournament.
The President of the Local Council of Satu Mare, Mr Csaba Pataki, Anton Fichtinger, CEV Technical Supervisor, and Paul Szabo-Alexi, Secretary of the Romanian Beach Volleyball Commission, all attended the medal ceremony, which rounded off the tournament. Finally yet importantly, all the credits for the organisation of this great event have to go to Mr Adrian Pricop, Tournament Director and representative of ADEP Satu Mare.
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