06/08/2018 12:25
Austria’s Kunert and Eglseer slowly but surely finding team chemistry
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Ljubljana
Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 6, 2018. In any sport, it is important to know your teammate(s) well, and this applies especially to Beach Volleyball where there is only you and your partner, and no options for a substitution. However, there are some interesting stories, as some teams seem able to find their chemistry almost immediately. One of them is Russia’s duo Valeriy Samoday and Taras Myskiv, who made their maiden appearance as a team at the 1-Star/Satellite event in Ljubljana and triumphed with the gold medal on Sunday night.
Another relatively new team are Austria’s Thomas Kunert and Peter Eglseer, who teamed up less than a month ago. Although they are both very experienced Beach Volleyball players, they still emphasise the meaning and importance of team chemistry. “Ljubljana was only our third tournament together and I think we did quite well. We are really a new team, we practice together once or twice a week, but we still did a fairly good job. If you compare us with the best teams at the highest level of the World Tour, you can see that they have been playing together for six or seven years. It is true that we are experienced as individuals, but we can still improve our team spirit,” Kunert explained.
Peter Eglseer (left) and Thomas Kunert portrayed during the 1-Star/Satellite event held in Ljubljana
The Austrian duo lost in the quarterfinals of the Ljubljana 1-Star/Satellite tournament to Slovenia’s Danijel Pokeršnik and Tadej Boženk, although they won the first set by 37-35, what turned out to be the longest set in the history of the event in the Slovenian capital.
If we put the defeat aside, Eglseer and Kunert enjoyed the event. “I would say that the most important thing in Beach Volleyball is to deliver a great show to the spectators and I think that the organisers of this tournament are doing a great job, especially at the centre court. Of course, there is always the opportunity to improve things, but we really enjoyed playing here in the old town despite the fact that we were playing against the home team and the spectators cheered for them. However, I think it was good overall, as we gave our best and made it to the quarterfinals. We are happy about that,” Eglseer commented.
The next stop for the Austrian team will be the 1-Star/Satellite event coming up later this week in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Click here for further information.
|