07/08/2019 22:00
‘Beacharena’ in Vaduz underway with exciting qualification round
2019 World Tour 1-Star - Vaduz
Vaduz, Liechtenstein, August 7, 2019. The 15th edition of the World Tour 1-Star event in Vaduz, aka the ‘Beacharena’, started successfully with the qualification round held on Wednesday. As many as 16 women’s and 15 men’s teams competed to secure one of the last four places available in the Main Draw. The first day showed that two things in Beach Volleyball are hard to plan, the weather and the duration of the games. There were some very exciting and close matches and these made the day last a bit longer than planned. Thanks to the covered tribune, the fans could already enjoy great actions without getting wet. The good news: the weather is getting better for the coming days!
Women: the Icelandic premiere lasted only two games
For the first time in Vaduz, an Icelandic Beach Volleyball team took part in a World Tour tournament. Berglind Jónsdóttir/Elisabet Einarsdottir clearly won their first match 2-0 against Sakurako Fujii/Minori Kumada from Japan. In the following match, however, the English team Anaya Evans/Ellie Austin, who already reached a podium place on the World Tour this year in Ios Island, were too strong for the Icelandic tandem. In addition to England, teams from Sweden, Israel and Switzerland qualified for the Main Draw as well. The Netherlands, Japan and England have now two teams each in the Main Draw. This year, two Japanese teams are top seeded: Sayaka Mizoe/Suzuka Hashimoto at number 1, their compatriots Kaho Sakaguchi/Reika Murakami at number 2. The Dutchwomen Julia Wouters/Katja Stam, who have already won a silver and bronze medal on the World Tour this year, will be potential contenders for the podium too.
Anaya Evans and Ellie Austin of England were among the teams progressing to the Main Draw in Vaduz on Wednesday.
Men: a Dutch-Russian Main Draw
In the men’s tournament, the Austrians Florian Ertl/Johannes Kratz, seeded No. 1 for the qualification, made it into the Main Draw. The 24-year-old Ertl and Kratz, one year younger, attracted attention in the last two tournaments with top placings. They finished second in Pinarella di Cervia and fourth a week ago in Ljubljana. Together with the Dutch Tom van Steenis/Sven Vismans, the Czechs Robert Kufa/Martin Melmuka and Russia’s Vsevolod Bobrikov/Vladislav Mikhalev (pictured above) they complete the Main Draw.
There the Dutch national team Ruben Penninga/Jasper Bouter is set as number 1. Will they follow the two Dutch teams Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen and Christiaan Varenhorst/Steven van de Velde, who first caused a sensation in Vaduz and then with further top placings on the global stage? Another interesting team is the no. 4 seeds Mariusz Prudel/Mikolaj Miszczuk. The 33-year-old veteran Prudel has already taken part in two Olympic Games with other partners and has won two important World Tour tournaments in recent years. The Dutch and the Russians are the strongest contingents in the men’s event with three teams each in the Main Draw.
Teams from Liechtenstein
The men’s duo Manuel Gahr and Maximilian von Deichmann is already a regular contestant in Vaduz and the home side will be there again this year. Ramona Kaiser and Laura Marxer will play in the women’s Main Draw for the host country just as they did last year. In their first match on Thursday at 12:00, they will meet the experienced Cypriots Manolina Konstantinou/Mariota Angelopoulou (No. 13) as No. 4 seeded. Gahr/von Deichmann play their first match at 15:20.
Click here for further information or visit the official website www.beacharena.li.
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