22/07/2017 20:53
Teams from Lithuania and Latvia secure semi-final spots in Vilnius
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Vilnius
Vilnius, Lithuania, July 22, 2017. The Main Draw of the CEV-EEVZA Satellite Vilnius started on Saturday morning with 16 teams chasing the top honours from the competition held in the Lithuanian capital. The main goal for the teams was to stay alive in the tournament, but also to cope with the heat wave. The spectators, on the other hand, had an amusing day and could witness a number of close, exciting matches. There are only six teams still in the race for the medals, including two from hosts Lithuania.
The tournament started with two derbies featuring teams from Latvia and Germany. Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka celebrated their first 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) win at the end of a tight game against their compatriots Marta Ozolina/Alise Lece. Ozolina and Lece eventually had to be content with 13th place after losing also to Sandra Ittlinger/Teresa Mersmann from Germany later in the day. As for Graudina and Kravcenoka, the 2016 U22 European champions comfortably progressed to the semis.
Early in the morning, top-seeded Ittlinger and Mersmann lost 0-2 (16-21, 19-21) their matchup with Sabrina Karnbaum/Natascha Niemczyk, who had progressed to the Main Draw via the qualification round contested on Friday. Karnbaum/Niemczyk lost their next match 0-2 to Graudina/Kravcenoka, but they eventually came back strong with a resounding 21-16, 21-12 victory over Czech Republic’s Karolina Rehackova/Magdalena Dostalova to stay in the race for a spot in the semis.
The home fans could hardly decide which of the Lithuanian teams to support in a number of ‘derbies’ featuring local players. Lithuania’s top team Monika Povilaityte/Ieva Dumbauskaite did not leave any chance to Jekaterina Kovalskaja/Agnieska Paskevic as they rallied to an easy 21-13, 21-18 victory in Round 1. Povilaityte and Dumbauskaite, however, had to work much harder before emerging victorious from another all-Lithuanian affair when playing Urte Andriukaityte/Irina Zobnina, the silver medal winners from the 2016 CEV Satellite in Vilnius.
Povilaityte and Dumbauskaite eventually celebrated a 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-7) victory at the end of an incredibly thrilling game to cement their status of Lithuania’s top Beach Volleyball team and secure a spot in the semis. After their loss, Andriukaityte/Zobnina will now re-start their campaign from the losers’ bracket and try to make it this way to the semis and medal matches.
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