09/08/2019 22:50
1-Star event draws large crowds in Vaduz downtown
2019 World Tour 1-Star - Vaduz
Vaduz, Liechtenstein, August 9, 2019. The competition at the 1-Star World Tour event in Vaduz, aka Beacharena 2019, resumed on Friday. The fans now know all of the teams due to contest the women’s quarterfinals while another four spots for the men’s quarterfinals will be at stake on Saturday. The home teams representing Liechtenstein leave the competition after losing twice in a row. As many as 2,500 spectators came to the stadium in downtown Vaduz, with a full house for the evening session.
Two teams from Japan plus one from the Netherlands and Cyprus had secured their spot in the women’s quarterfinals on Thursday already. After losing to Cyprus, Ramona Kaiser and Laura Marxer of Liechtenstein suffered another 0-2 (10-21, 14-21) setback against Victoria Palmer/Jessica Grimson of England. Teams from Israel, Colombia, Paraguay and another Dutch tandem complete the draw for the quarterfinals. The Israeli team Sofia Starikov (pictured above)/Anita Dave have made it this far after starting their journey in the qualification round.
Austria’s Florian Ertl/Johannes Kratz enjoyed a ‘day off’ in Vaduz after qualifying for the quarterfinals on Thursday already. They have been a major hit on the World Tour these past few weeks after finishing second in Pinarella di Cervia and fourth in Ljubljana. “At the beginning of the season we still had a few problems with the chemistry within the team, but now we have been able to win more, so we have started to play much more relaxed,” they said. “In the decisive balls, especially, we now play with more self-confidence and are calmer. Volleyball remains quite a mental game, so once you are in the flow it becomes a lot easier.”
Ertl/Kratz were one of four teams to make it to the quarterfinals on Thursday together with their compatriots Moritz Fabian Kindl/Mathias Seiser, Poland’s Mariusz Prudel/Mikolaj Miszczuk and Dutchmen Jasper Bouter/Ruben Penninga. On Friday, three Russian, one Czech and two Dutch teams – plus one from Norway and New Zealand – made it one step further in the competition.
The home heroes Manuel Gahr/Maximilian von Deichmann only managed to play a good first set against New Zealand’s Thomas Hartles/Alani Nicklin. In the second set they really broke in. It did not work very well for them, but the heat also caused them a lot of troubles, as they noticed very disappointed at the end of their match with the ‘Kiwis’.
You can follow all of the matches on EuroVolleyTV.
Click here for further information or visit the official website www.beacharena.li.
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