18/06/2014 18:31
8 teams advance to main draw in Montpellier
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellites - Montpellier
Montpellier, France, June 18, 2014. The CEV Satellite tournament in Montpellier continued on Wednesday with a series of matches whereby 23 teams embarked on their quest for claiming one of the eight spots available for advancing to the main draw. Unfortunately it did not work for the only home team in action today as Anastassia Koutchouk and Elisabeth Fedele lost their match with Dutchwomen Annemieke Driessen and Ilke Meertens at the tie-break after winning the first and second set (2:3; 15-10, 16-14, 9-15, 13-15, 4-7).
“Anastassia and Elisabeth were probably caught by surprise as they were leading by 2:0 in their opening match with an experienced Dutch duo,” says their coach Stéphane Canet. “They thought they had already won and so they did no longer display the same intensity, especially with their serve, whereas their opponents fought their way back. This result nevertheless remains positive because they are only 19 and 20 and today they have realized that they have some good perspectives in Beach Volleyball. They shall continue this way because this is the only chance they have to make it, one day, to the Olympics.”
Among the teams that advanced to the main draw, Germany’s Jenny Heinemann and Anika Krebs beat Norway’s Irmelin Torsvik Sannarnes and Ane Guro Tveit Hjortland in three sets (17-15, 15-12, 15-3).
Norway got nevertheless something to celebrate for Cindy Treland and Janne Pedersen – after competing last weekend in Portoroz for the 1st Round of the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup – advanced to the main draw besting Portugal’s underdogs Juliana Antunes and Ana Sofia Freches Fonseca (15-11, 15-13, 14-16, 14-16, 8-6) in the longest match of the second round (56 minutes).
Sweden’s Sigrid Simonsson and Anna Åsberg caused the sensation of the day as they beat a very solid Dutch team, Jolien Sinnema and Lauri Luijken, after previously edging a young Swiss duo – Sarah Leemann and Anja Licka – in the first round. The second surprise of the day was caused by Latvia’s Tina Graudina and 2009 European champion Inese Jursone who made the main draw after edging past fifth-seeded Diana Zolnercikova and Martina Jakubsova (3:1; 21-19, 15-12, 11-15, 15-13). Tina Graudina is the youngest competitor at the Satellite tournament in Montpellier being only 16. Jursone and Graudina had started their campaign earlier in the morning by upsetting Spain’s Ester Ribera Boter and Amaranta Fernandez Navarro.
Spain’s Angela Lobato Herrero and Paula Soria Gutierrez also progressed to the main draw after seeing off another Czech pair, Karolina Rehackova and Magdalena Dostalova, in three straight sets (15-10, 17-15, 16-14). Another spot in the main draw was claimed by Eliska Galova and Hana Tresnakova, also from the Czech Republic, who after a bye in the first round beat Poland’s Maria Wloch and Agata Oleksy (15-12, 15-11, 15-13). The last ticket to the next phase was cashed by Poland’s Karolina Baran and Jagoda Gruszczynska who did not have any problems in their match with Dutchwomen Joy Stubbe and Julia Wouters that rounded out Wednesday’s program (15-9, 15-10, 15-13).
Actions will continue now on Thursday with the first round of play in a main draw comprising 8 teams already pre-seeded and the eight that made it there through today’s qualification.
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