08/08/2018 23:00
Vaduz braced to host 14th edition of Satellite event, women’s qualification completed
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Vaduz
Vaduz, Liechtenstein, August 8, 2018. It is an exciting time for Beach Volleyball fans in Vaduz and the alpine principality of Liechtenstein. On Sunday, the Small Countries Division tournament ended with teams from Cyprus taking four of the six medals at stake, and with 4,000 spectators in attendance throughout the competition. It is now time for the annual CEV 1-Star/Satellite to take centre stage, with the women’s qualification round contested on Wednesday. It is the very first time that a World Tour event takes place in Liechtenstein, which makes this year’s tournament a truly historic one in the 14-year-long history of the Vaduz Satellite.
As for the Main Draw, competition will run as per the ‘modified pool play’ format, meaning there are four matches played in each of the pools of four, with only the last placed team eliminated from the tournament. The top three from each pool, on the other hand, will qualify for the first or second round of single elimination.
Teams from The Netherlands, USA, Australia and Austria complete the 16-team women’s Main Draw after successfully going through two rounds of qualification on Wednesday. These are Nicole Laird/Brittany Kendall (AUS), Alexandra Wheeler/Lara Dykstra (USA), Austrian sisters Dorina and Ronja Klinger plus Puk Stubbe/Emma Piersma of the Netherlands.
Nicole Laird and Brittany Kendall of Australia were among the teams progressing through the qualification round in Vaduz on Wednesday
As a result, teams from 12 nations will play for the title in the Main Draw. Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria and Liechtenstein are each starting the competition with two teams. The field includes Esmée Böbner/Zoé Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland, who just won their first international title on the World Tour at the 1-Star/Satellite in Ljubljana and are the top seeds in Vaduz. Böbner is also a bronze medallist from this year’s U20 European Championship – with a different partner though.
Switzerland have a third team in the Main Draw following a late withdrawal on Wednesday night - with Kim Huber and Tatjana Greber being the lucky losers that will continue their campaign in Vaduz.
The home team Ramona Kaiser/Laura Marxer, who finished in fourth place at last week’s Small Countries Championships, are the no. 4 seeds. Chiara Bigger/Nina Ludwig are the second Liechtenstein team in the competition and the no. 16 seed of the tournament.
The event continues on Thursday with the men’s qualification and the start of the women’s Main Draw.
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