04/04/2013 19:30
Sekerci and Giginoglu carry Turkey's hopes in Antalya
CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Antalya
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Antalya, Turkey, April 4, 2013. Turkey’s top pair Selcuk Sekerci and Murat Giginoglu did highlight the first day of Main Draw action at the CEV Satellite tournament in Antalya by winning both of their matches on Thursday. They started out their campaign early in the morning by edging in two sets (21-17, 21-16) Thomas Kunert and Lorenz Petutschnig of Austria and then followed up by cruising past Russia’s Prokopiev/Bogatov coming back after losing the first set (15-21) to win the next two (21-16 and 15-10). On Friday morning at 10 they will be playing the first-seeded duo of the tournament, Germany’s Kay Matysik and Jonathan Erdmann – silver medalists from the 2011 European Championship – for a spot in the quarterfinals. The President of the Turkish Volleyball Federation, Özkan Mutlugil, was also in attendance for the opening day of the Main Draw.
“We claimed our first match quite easily but we did not play that good in the first set of our game with the Russian duo” Giginoglu says. “However, via the support provided by our fans, we started playing much better in the second set and did so also in the tie-break thereby winning this match. We have to play a very strong pair on Friday and I think this will be a match to watch out for. We’ll be doing our best to get the upper hand there”.
“The second match was pretty tough as we did not start that good” partner Selcuk Sekerci adds. “However, we could exploit the home advantage and by playing much better in the second and third set could eventually bring it home. I hope tomorrow we can prolong our winning streak”.
The other teams from the host country included in the Main Draw were not that successful. Hakan Gögtepe/Hakan Akisik lost in straight sets to Erdmann/Matysik first and then also to Austria’s Daniel Müllner/Jörg Wutzl while Emir Kavuzlu/Volkan Gögtepe were bested in two sets as well, first by Germany’s Eric Koreng/Alexander Walkenhorst and then by Estonia’s Rivo Vesik/Kristo Kollo.
Turkey’s female pairs were not that successful too, as Esra Köksalan/Burcu Atasoy were ousted in straight sets by Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler and Victoria Bieneck/Julia Großner while their compatriots Pinar Özkan/Burcu Baser first lost to Motrich/Prokopieva of Russia in straight sets and then to U21 world champions Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte of Lithuania (1:2).
Click here for more info about the CEV Satellite in Antalya
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