16/08/2013 23:00
Two Bulgarian teams please the home crowd by making it to the next round
2013 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Varna, Bulgaria, August 16, 2013. Dubbed the seaside capital of Bulgaria, Varna is now ready for elimination round action at the 2013 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship presented by Mtel. As pool play is now over, 8 teams per gender have qualified for Round 2, another 16 have made it to Round 1 while the other 8 will have to join the stands as spectators and start preparing for the much awaited annual Mtel Beach Masters party on Yuzhen beach set to take place on Saturday night. One boys’ and one girls’ duo among the local Bulgarian favorites have pleased the home crowd by staying alive in the competition.
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Branimir Grozdanov/Martin Ivanov had to go through some tough battles in their Pool F. In each of their three matches they brought a lot of excitement to the audience as a tie-breaking third set had to determine the winner. The 2:1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-12) 52-minute victory over the Czech team Ondrej Benes/Ondrej Perusic in what was the longest running men’s game of the day was the key to qualification for the next round. Despite losing their last pool match to the strong Dutch duo Wessel Keemink/Dirk Boehlé by 1:2 (10-21, 21-17, 8-15), Marti and Branko were cheered on by the Bulgarian fans for long after the end of the game. ”It is incredible to play in such atmosphere, with the stands full of enthusiastic spectators who support you. The thrill to be on the court is unbelievable!” Ivanov confessed emotionally.
As each of the men’s teams had to play two more matches today, the ones that maintained their perfect records and topped their pools without having lost a single set were Poland’s three-time world champions Bartosz Losiak/Piotr Kantor in Pool B, Germany’s Bennet Poniewaz/David Poniewaz in Pool C and Austria’s Christoph Dressler/Fabian Kandolf in Pool H. Poland and Austria have placed one more duo each directly into Round 2 as Maciej Kosiak/Maciej Rudol and Lorenz Petutschnig/Tobias Winter topped Pools D and E respectively. The other three teams that claimed spots directly in Round 2 were Mate Glaurdic/Niksa Dellorco from Croatia in Pool A, Mirco Gerson/Gabriel Kissling from Switzerland in Pool F and Andrey Bolgov/Viacheslav Kirienko from Russia in Pool G. Sixteen other teams that finished second or third in their pools will be the first ones to engage in elimination action in Round 1 on Saturday morning.
Dzhesika Nikolova/Ivana Boyanova were the Bulgarian women’s duo that made it through pool play successfully. Despite having lost their last match against Israel’s Katrina Zilberman/Kristina Zilberman by 0:2 (14-21, 15-21) today, the disappointment for them and for the home fans was soon replaced by joy as they found out that Dzhesika and Ivana finished as runners-up in Pool A on point ratio and will stay on in the European Championship. Germany’s Kim Behrens/Sandra Seyfferth topped the pool standings with three straight-set wins.
There are as many as five other pool winners that move forward with an impeccable record of 6-0 in sets. The other German team Christine Aulenbrock/Anna Behlen breezed through Pool B. Agata Oleksy/Jagoda Gruszczynska from Poland were unstoppable in Pool C. Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha/Anna Gorbunova claimed the top spot in Pool D. Angela Lobato Herrero/Paula Soria Gutiérrez from Spain took over Pool F and Nina Betschart/Anouk Vergé-Dépré from Switzerland emerged as winners of Pool H.
In one of the most exciting women’s matches of the day the Greek team Anna Spanou/Konstantina Vlachaki battled to a 2:1 (13-21, 29-27, 15-2) victory over Polish girls Karolina Baran/Dorota Strag. This was a direct duel for the first place in Pool G and shot Anna and Konstantina straight into Round 2 of elimination. In Pool E, Gabriela Kotvová/Tereza Vanková from the Czech Republic also had to work hard for the top spot in the standings in a head-to-head battle against Austria’s Katharina Schützenhöfer/Lena Plesiutschnig. They rejoiced victorious after hammering out a 2:0 (22-20, 21-16) win in 38 minutes of play. Similar to the men’s competition, sixteen other teams that finished second or third in their pools will also get a chance to make it to Round 2 if they win their elimination games in Round 1 on Saturday morning.
The 2013 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship is be streamed live on LAOLA1.tv here.
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