18/05/2018 23:47
Serbia’s Kolaric and Basta extend winning streak in Aydin
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Aydin
Aydin, Turkey, May 18, 2018. The second day of the 1-Star event in Aydin started with more favourable weather conditions – with temperatures rising to 30 °C but a cloudy sky. Teams from Serbia, Turkey, Sweden and Russia completed a clean sweep of their matches in the pool stage to progress straight to the men’s quarterfinals.
After making it through the qualification round on Thursday, Serbia’s Stefan Basta/Lazar Kolaric and Poland’s Mateusz Lysikowski/Mateusz Paszkowski returned to the court. Basta/Kolaric took advantage of the withdrawal from Turkey’s Enes Safak Sezer and Selcuk Sekerci after taking the first set 21-13. Sezer had suffered an injury before the match and could not continue the game after the first set. Lysikowski and Paszkowski continued their winning streak as well as they comfortably beat Ruben Penninga/Mees Blom of the Netherlands 21-10, 21-9.
Lazar Kolaric and Stefan Basta of Serbia have been a dominant force at the 1-Star event in Aydin this far
Spain’s Raul Mesa and Christian Garcia lost the first set to Austria’s Thomas Kunert and Philipp Waller (18-21) but came back strong to sweep two in a row (21-18, 21-19) to extend their winning streak from Thursday’s qualification round as well.
Turkey’s Safa Urlu and Hasan Hüseyin Mermer secured the host country’s first win in the tournament with a 21-17, 21-18 win in their match with Sweden’s David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig. “It is an important win for us and for our country. We did not want to have to go through the losers’ bracket and as a result, we fought even harder,” Urlu said. “We feel proud to celebrate this victory for Turkey. Our aim is to finish the tournament among the top three and I believe we can do that. Many thanks to all the fans who have showed up to support us even during Ramadan. Aydin has the best fans across all the cities and places I have played in,” Mermer added.
Martin Appelgren and Simon Boman restored Sweden’s pride as they beat Austria’s Felix Friedl and Maximilian Trummer 21-19, 21-13. However, their compatriots Jakob Molin and Linus Tholse lost a close match to Russia’s Maksim Hudyakov and Ruslan Bykanov. Under light rain, the Russians easily won the first set 21-12 before the Swedes responded swiftly in the second (21-15). Hudyakov and Bykanov fought back again as they took the tiebreak 15-10 and the match 2-1.
Teams from Turkey and Iran contested two matches against each other, with Iran’s Arash Vakili and Bahman Salemiinjiehboroun routing Ali Berke Sagir/Engin Özbek of Turkey 21-18, 21-13. However, Yusuf Ozdemir and Ali Cebeci claimed a hard-fought 21-16, 16-21, 17-15 victory in their match with Rahman Raoufi and Abolhamed Mirzaali to provide the local fans with something to cheer about after cancelling a five-point deficit in the tiebreak.
Home heroes Safa Urlu and Hasan Hüseyin Mermer celebrate their second straight win in Aydin
The men’s competition resumed later in the day when the 16-year-old Swedes Åhman and Hellvig played Penninga/Blom for a spot in the Round of 12. The youngsters secured a 21-18, 16-21, 15-13 win to stay alive in the tournament. “We were a little bit nervous but we managed to close the game in our favour,” Ahman said. “I played against Penninga before so I knew what to expect and what to do. Other Swedish teams have followed their previous matches and they provided us with some useful tips, so we could focus rather on ourselves than on the opponents. We showed today that tactics really matter in this game.”
Urlu/Mermer played Paszkowski and Lysikowski for the top spot in Pool A and with the help of the crowd, the local heroes stamped a 21-12, 21-18 win to provide the audience with another reason to celebrate and secure a spot among the top eight of the tournament. Serbia’s Basta/Kolaric continued their show of strength against Mesa/Garcia despite losing the second set to celebrate a 21-16, 20-22, 15-12 and confirm their status as one of the favourite teams for the medals in Aydin. Iran’s Salemi/Vakili lost to Appelgren/Boman 19-21, 18-21 as the Swedes progressed straight to the quarterfinals as well. Russia’s Hudyakov and Bykanov also qualified for the quarterfinals after securing a comprehensive 21-11, 21-11 victory over Turkey’s Ozdemir/Cebeci.
Elsewhere, Turkey’s Sagir/Özbek claimed a 2-1 victory (21-16, 15-21, 15-10) over Friedl and Trummer to stay alive in the competition. “We have been playing together for two months only,” Özbek said after the match. “It is therefore exciting to have made it to the next round. Our goal is a top-three finish and I believe we can make it there with the support of this crowd. Aydin has the best fans I have ever seen.” Ali Berke Sagir has returned to Aydin after playing there last year. “This city has such a great crowd and we want to pay them back. This event is truly special to me and it shows how much I have improved as an athlete since I was here last year,” he said.
Ali Berke Sagir and Engin Özbek finished the day in style for Turkey
Iran’s Raoufi/Mirzaali are also still alive in the tournament following their 21-16, 21-19 victory over Sweden’s Molin and Tholse.
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