Siófok, Hungary, August 24, 2018. Beach Volleyball gathered great spectator interest on the second day of the FIVB World Tour 1-Star/Satellite Siofok as pool play was in action for both men and women. The tournament is also proving to be a successful family thing as two pairs of siblings and one pair of cousins have recorded their first wins in Hungary.
The spectators and the participants were not bored in Siófok. The first-seeded Ukrainian twins Inna and Iryna Makhno were living up to the name and defeated the local team Nikolett Tátrai/Lujza Papp 2-0 (21-9, 21-11), while the struggle was much bigger in the second match of the day as they met the Japanese team Sakurako Fujii/Mai Tanaka and managed a comeback and recorded their second win 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-13). The team from Ukraine now has moved directly into the quarterfinals. The sister-power was strong also with Nina and Tajda Lovsin, as the Slovenian duo that emerged victorious from the qualification, claimed two wins on Friday as well and even managed an upset against the second-seeded Agata Ceynowa/Martyna Kloda from Poland 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-12).
In the evening the wind got stronger and the weather was not easy for the players. Hungary's champions Eszter Lutter/Szandra Szombathelyi could not please the home fans and eventually ended the tournament with a three-set loss against Czechs Martina Maixnerova/Marie-Sara Stochlova, 1-2 (16-21, 21-19, 12-15), meaning there will be no home teams represented in the elimination round. Disappointment did not end there for the Hungarians as, sadly, Lujza Papp suffered a serious shoulder injury and together with her partner Nikolett Tátrai had to withdraw from her second game and the whole tournament.
While women played two rounds on the hot Siófok’s sand, men only played one. The first-seeded French duo, Romain Di Giantommaso/Jérémy Silvestre, did not even spend half an hour on the sand, 28 minutes were enough to redeem their ticket in the top 12 against Bálint Janossy/Gergely Takacs of Hungary 2-0 (21-10, 21-13). Another pair of siblings, who have already left their mark on the sand
are the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games champions Javier and Joaquin Bello. The
Englishmen started the tournament with a three-set victory against the
Norwegians Sadegh Mohajer/Kjetil Tellnes 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-10).
In one of the most exciting matches of the day, young Hungarians Artur Hajos/Bence Streli edged Japanese duo Koichi Nishimura/Junki Hatabe 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-13). Nishimura celebrated his 45th birthday earlier this year and his coach could comment the performance in short: "Nishimura is still in a fantastic physical condition."
On Saturday another 24 matches will be played and all semi-finalists will be known, before we can call it a day.
Watch all the matches live on Laola1.tv
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