12/08/2017 13:47
Foreign teams upset Russian fans on first day of Main Draw at #CEVSatellite Yantarny
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Yantarny
Yantarny, Russia, August 11, 2017. The Main Draw of the double-gender CEV-EEVZA Satellite started on Friday at the premises of Yantarny beach in the Kaliningrad Region. The local fans were left a little bit disappointed after most of the home teams were not able to progress to the third round. However, the Russian tandems still have a chance of fighting back via the losers’ bracket and remain in contention for a medal.
In the women’s tournament, top-seeded Karla Borger/Margareta Kozuch of Germany had quite an easy start with a victory over sisters Elena and Maria Sviridova from Russia. In the second round, the Germans had to face their compatriots Lisa Arnholdt/Leonie Welsch, who on Thursday had qualified for the Main Draw after taking a victory over opponents from Sweden. The second win for the first-seeded team in Yantarny was not an easy one, but Borger and Kozuch were able to pull out a 2-0 shutout of their rivals (21-19, 21-16). Borger and her partner, the former star player of Germany women’s Volleyball team, will play Russia’s Yulia Abalakina/Ksenia Dabizha for a spot in the semis. The Russians are in good shape and last week took bronze at another CEV Satellite in Larnaca, Cyprus. They also won both their matches in straight sets, first beating compatriots Irina Frolova/Ekaterina Zazhigina before edging Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka. Latvia still have one representative in the women’s third round - Marta Ozolina and Alise Lece, who will play Karolina Rehackova and Magdalena Dostalova (CZE) for a spot in the semis.
In the men’s competition, no Russian team progressed straight to Round 3 after Maxim Sivolap/Igor Velichko lost their first match to Dutchmen Dirk Boehlé/Steven van de Velde after three close sets on the centre court. Boehlé/van de Velde had another tough match in the following round, but managed to take the decisive set again – this time around, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Solovejs/Toms Smedins were the ones standing on the other side of the net. In order to secure a spot in the semis, the Dutchmen will be playing one of the top favourites of the competition, Austria’s Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler. Aliaksandr Kavalenka and Aliaksandr Dziadkou of Belarus have also made it to Round 3 to play there France’s Youssef Krou and Quincy Ayé. The Frenchmen recorded two easy wins on Friday whereas the team from Belarus had to come from behind in their matchup with seventh-seeded Alexander Likholetov/Ruslan Bykanov from Russia.
Even though the competition is taking place by the Baltic Sea, the organisers have been making some extra efforts to provide players with a 'Mediterranean' environment, offering season fruits such as water melons in the relax area arranged courtside.
On Saturday, more matches will determine the eventual semi-finalists of the CEV-EEVZA Satellite in Yantarny with the semis and medal matches scheduled for Sunday.
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