Vaduz, Liechtenstein, August 10, 2018. Rather often we can hear stories, how track and field athletes or tennis players turn to Beach Volleyball, but Austrian sisters Dorina and Ronja Klinger come from a whole different planet as they switched to the summer sport after being devoted skiers.
“We were both quite successful in skiing and were nominated in various junior National teams. Now we have been playing Beach Volleyball for two and a half years, but this is our first season together as a team,” the girls explained. Although they are quite new to the sport, they managed to secure the fifth place at the 2018 U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Jurmala two weeks ago and the 1-Star/Satellite Baden held earlier this year in their home country. At the 1-Star/Satellite Vaduz, the girls were among the four pool winners.
However, it was not a direct transition from snow to sand, as Dorina and Ronja, aged 21 and 18, have also practiced tennis, track and field, including pole vault and now call windsurfing their hobby. “We like Beach Volleyball, because it is a great combination of an individual and team sport. In such a small team you still have to be a great fighter individually to be successful, you have to find solutions on your own as well. This is probably something we learnt from skiing.”
It has always been a family thing for the Klingers. “Our mom was an athlete, our father is a sports scientist, but now both our parents run a ski school. Of course they were not enthusiastic at the beginning, when we switched to the beach, because they had invested a lot in the school and we as skiers were quite successful. But now they fully support our "new" sport. Our father trains us often – even if he is not a volleyball specialist, as a sports scientist he can still bring us forward in many areas.”
Dorina Klinger celebrates a point at the 1-Star/Satellite Vaduz
When asked to describe having your sibling as your only teammate, the girls are straighforward about both the positives and the downsides. “It is like with best friends - sometimes you step on each other’s nerves. But we do understand each other very well and it is a kind of blind trust you can only have with your sibling, thus we see more advantages in playing together.”
Dorina and Ronja Klinger were also unite as both girls admitted they would choose summer and sand over winter and snow. On court the sisters‘ union proved to be strong as well, as the girls successfully passed the qualification and were the winners of Pool D with 2-1 wins against teams from Switzerland and Australia. Unfortunately, the strength ran short in their fourth tie-breaker of the tournament as the girls eventually lost to Americans Alexandra Wheeler/Lara Dykstra 1-2 (18-21, 21-16, 8-15) and added yet another 5th place finish to their portfolio.
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