10/08/2019 23:30
1-Star event in Budapest about to reach its climax at Lupa Lake
2019 World Tour 1-Star - Budapest
Budapest, Hungary, August 10, 2019. As with Friday’s programme, matches for the 1-Star World Tour event taking place at Lupa Lake, in the outskirts of Budapest, ran from early in the morning until late in the evening on Saturday to determine the eventual semi-finalists for the men’s tournament and women’s finalists.
Out of the top seeds, only no. 3 Kensuke Shoji and Masato Kurasaka of Japan made it into the semi-finals. There were a few surprises and especially an outstanding performance from Italian youngsters Samuele Cottafava and Jakob Windisch who secured their spot in the semis together with Latvia’s Toms Smedins/Haralds Regza and Daniel Bergerud/Lars Tveit Retterholt of Norway.
The results of the women’s matches were slightly more predictable. The spectacular, evening semi-final played under floodlights ended with Japanese Chiyo Suzuki/Yurika Sakaguchi securing their spot in the gold medal match while Dutch youngsters Emi van Driel/Raisa Schoon lost to Russia’s Daria Mastikova and Polina Tsyganova.
“The organisers are noticeably more experienced,” said Oguz Degirmenci, the FIVB Supervisor of the competition, who last season had attended the event held in Siófok. “The infrastructure is new, the grandstands are cool and the beach is very nice, great photos are taken of the site. I also received positive feedback from the players, it matters a lot that they can relax in an air-conditioned building. It is also a big advantage that the Lupa Lake is close to the airport, really, everything is just fine. Even though there are major competitions such as EuroBeachVolley held this week, the tournament is highly competitive and the Hungarian stop of the World Tour could easily become a 2 or 3-Star event next year,” he continued.
“It only depends on the Hungarian organisers, if the right budget is available, then the CEV would say consider a higher-ranked event, because the organisation is simply great,” continued Degirmenci, who was particularly pleased to have a small fitness park on the beach where he regularly uses the machines. “I miss movement since I have not been playing for a while now, so whenever I have time, I do a few exercises so I can stay fit.”
The competition resumes at 10 am on Sunday with the men’s semi-finals, followed by the women’s and men’s medal matches.
Click here for further information.
|