07/11/2019 20:00
Denmark’s Thomsen and Hansen the standout performers in Tel Aviv
2019 FIVB World Tour 1-Star - Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Israel, November 7, 2019. Danish duo Daniel Thomsen and Martin Trans Hansen (pictured) boast a perfect record of two wins in as many matches after completion of the first day of Main Draw action at the historic 1-Star event in Tel Aviv. The Danes, seeded second in the tournament, started their journey with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) victory against home stars Tomer Hadar and River Day, the Israelis who earlier this year finished fifth at the U18 European Championship in Baden, Austria. Later on Thursday, the Danes did not drop a single set again when playing Poland’s Michal Korycki and Martin Chiniewicz, thus recording a 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) victory.
In the women’s competition, four teams secured their spot in the quarterfinals with two straight wins. Denmark’s Line Trans Hansen and Simone Marie Okholm upset Austria’s Eva Freiberger and Valerie Teufl, seeded first in the competition. Cecilie Køllner Olsen and Sofia Nørager Bisgaard from Denmark (seeded 5th), Kaho Sakaguchi and Reika Murakami of Japan (seeded 3rd), and 2nd seeded Ekaterina Syrtseva/Alexandra Moiseeva of Russia.
As for the Israelis, the hosts had some success as well, with two teams reaching the Round of 12. The first were the country’s top team, Anita Dave and Sofia Starikov, who secured their spot for Friday’s competition following a 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) victory against Ukraine’s Tetiana Lazarenko and Anhelina Khmil.
Home favourites Sofia Starikov and Anita Dave are still in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals in Tel Aviv
The second and more surprising home team to celebrate success on home soil are Eylon Elazar and Ofri Masuri. While making their maiden appearance in a FIVB World Tour event, they stormed to a 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 15-12) victory against Japan’s Hitoshi Murakami and Takashi Tsuchiya. After edging the third-seeded Japanese team, the Israelis lost 1-2 (15-21, 21-19, 9-15) after an hour to Russia’s Petr Bakhnar and Yury Bogatov in one of the most exciting matches of the day.
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