Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, January 13, 2018.  In front of the completely packed stands at the indoor Beachwell centre court, Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilová came back from a set down against top-seeded compatriots Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Slukova to claim one of the spots in the women’s semifinals of the 2018 CEV Beach Volleyball European Masters in Pelhrimov. The last four of the tournament got completed with pairs from Finland, Germany and Latvia.

While all four games of the first elimination round finished with straight-set wins, all four of the quarterfinals offered fierce three-set battles for the semifinal vacancies.

Third-seeded Kolocova and Kvapilová started the day with a narrow 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) victory over Poland’s Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Kociolek. In their all-Czech clash with Hermannová and Slukova, they defied their lower-seed status and, inspired by the fantastic atmosphere around the court, battled their way back into the match for a 2-1 (15-21, 21-18, 15-9) victory.

“The atmosphere here is absolutely stunning! The fans are supporting everyone. It is awesome!” exclaimed Kvapilová after the match.

“We beat Barbora and Marketa in September for the first time and now we did it again,” Kolocova commented. “It was tough again - they are really good, and we are happy that we won. We want to recover and prepare ourselves for tomorrow, because we want a medal!”

The Czech pair will appear in Sunday’s first semifinal at 09:00 local time against fourth-seeded Taru Lahti-Liukkonen and Anniina Parkkinen. In what proved to be the longest-running match of the day, the Finns persevered through 53 tough minutes on the court to claim a 2-1 (21-19, 21-23, 15-11) quarterfinal victory over Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Shchypkova.

After winning the all-German duel in the first round, a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) close against Karla Borger and Margareta Kozuch, eighth-seeded Sandra Ittlinger and Kim Behrens recovered from a catastrophic first set against Russian teenage prodigies Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina to turn things around to a 2-1 (10-21, 21-16, 15-11) victory and a spot in the semis.

On Sunday morning, at 10:00, Ittlinger and Behrens will face the 12th-seeded Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in the second semifinal. The Latvian pair first knocked out sixth-seeded Finns Riikka Lehtonen and Niina Ahtiainen with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) shutout, and then fought their way back to a 2-1 (19-21, 21-10, 15-8) come-from-behind victory over second-seeded Nina Betschart and Tanja Hüberli from Switzerland.

All Sunday matches will be streamed live on CEV’s YouTube channel and the CEV Beach Volleyball Facebook page and will be available for viewing by the fans in the Czech Republic and all countries where the TV rights have not been purchased.

To follow the live score of all the games on the event’s webpage, click here.

Engage with the 2018 CEV Beach Volleyball European Masters Pelhrimov on social media by using the competition’s official hashtag #EuroBeachVolley.

Click here for more information on the Pelhrimov Masters.