Novi Sad, Serbia, July 1, 2014.  The third stop of the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – Novi Sad Masters, started today in the beautiful setting of Strand beach on the Danube river banks, under a pleasant temperature of 21 degrees, with the country quota matches featuring teams from Austria and Norway.

After two successful CEV Challenger tournaments in 2009 and 2010, and three CEV Masters tournaments in 2011, 2012 and 2013, organized by the Volleyball Federation of Serbia and its general sponsor Vip mobile company, the best European beach volleyball players have gathered in Novi Sad hoping to make it to the finals on Saturday and secure their tickets for the 2015 FIVB World Championships in the Netherlands.

Peter Eglseer / Felix Koraimann of Austria will enter Wednesday’s qualification tournament as they were better than compatriots Daniel Hupfer / Julian Hoerl in the last match of the day winning it by 2:0 (21-16, 21-16).  Before that Hupfer / Hoerl had defeated another Austrian pair, Thomas Kunert / Christoph Dressler, by a tight 2:0 (26-24, 21-17), hammered out in 45 minutes of play.

Norwegian pair Lars Tveit Retterholt / Hendrik Nikolai Mol will take their chances tomorrow having edged Svein Oddmund Solhaug / Daniel Bergerud in a dramatic three-setter by 2:1 (20-22, 21-15, 15-13).  During the second set, Mol requested medical treatment after injuring his arm, but luckily was able to get back into the game and advance further in the competition with his teammate.

Starting tomorrow morning, 32 pairs will be chasing one of the eight vacant spots in the main draw.  The local fans will naturally be cheering for the Serbian duos Nenad Simeunovic / Nemanja Komar and Nenad Tatic / Borislav Petrovic.  The host country’s favorites Sinisa Antonic / Marko Galesev, Stefan Basta / Miljan Kikovic and Sasa Surla / Rasko Jovanovic are already among the 16 pre-seeded teams in the main draw.

Numerous beach volleyball fans are expected to fill up the stands in the following days, and as the weather and the atmosphere are about to heat up, various side activities for the spectators, attractive DJ music and, of course, high-level beach volleyball make these summer days by the Danube unforgettable.

Click here for more information on the tournament.