Baden, Austria, May 29, 2013. The 2013 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Baden Masters, and this year’s first Masters tournament, starts today. After the “Country Quota” and tomorrows qualification round, the Main Draw will begin on Friday with the women finals on Saturday, 1st of June and men finals on Sunday, 2nd of June. 16000 fans from all over Austria and its neighboring countries are expected to visit the Strandbad Baden this weekend. They will see Badens best starting field of the tournaments history.
144 Athletes from 24 countries will compete in the CEV Baden Masters, which has a prize fund of € 50.000. It’s hard to determine the favorites for the women competition. On paper, Swiss girls Zumkehr/Heidrich as well as local heroes Doris and Steffi Schwaiger are considered to be the favorite teams in the competition. However last year’s winners Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (SUI) and bronze medalists Nystrom/Nystrom (FIN) should not be underestimated.
Doris Schwaiger says: “Baden is our first highlight of the season. Playing in front of our family, friends, fans and sponsors motivates us even more. We want to show our potential at home and will do everything to win the tournament.”
The men’s main draw is packed with top stars. Latvian Samoilovs, who lately won the FIVB Grand Slam in Corrientes with Janis Smedins, will participate in Baden with Janis Peda. Polish Top-Teams Fijalek/Prudel and Kadziola/Szalankiewicz lead the seeding list of CEV Baden Masters. Dutch youngsters Brouwers/Meeuwsen (8th current FIVB World Ranking) will try to continue their march up the rankings ladder. Austrian veterans Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, as well as shooting stars Xandi Huber and Robin Seidl will try to grab some medals for the host country. Both teams already have had some good results this year, especially Huber/Seidl, who claimed a fantastic third place in Fuzhou (CHN). Last year’s Satellite champion Clemens Doppler seems to be very confident. He says “We want to win the gold medal. We want to defend our title, even though the competition is much tougher this year.” Alex Horst is very excited to come back to Lower Austria stating. “The atmosphere in Baden is amazing every time and it’s my special home tournament.”
Dominik Gschiegl, CEO of the local promoter “VISION05” is very glad to have such great teams in Baden. He commented “We’ worked very hard, to get the Double-Gender-Masters to Strandbad Baden. Furthermore, without ÖVV (Austrian Volleyball Federation), Peter Kleinmann (ÖVV-President) and Stefan Potyka (Vice-President) we wouldn’t have had a chance. Now, the tournament will be the top-class Beach Volleyball event in Europe. Everything is ready for the tournament and we are really looking forward to it.”