08/08/2014 19:27
Thrilling matches delight Swiss fans on main draw day one at Biel/Bienne
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – Biel/Bienne Masters
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, August 8, 2014. The Swiss home crowd enjoyed exciting Beach Volleyball matches played at a very high level on the shores of Lake Biel for the second day of the Biel/Bienne Masters, fourth stop of this year’s CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship. The atmosphere will get even “hotter” on Saturday morning as the top teams will want to secure their ticket to the quarterfinals of the Beachmania as the tournament is being also referred to by organisers and fans alike.
The men’s main draw competition started with a series of exciting games on Friday. The spectators streamed to the Beachmania stadium at the lakeside to follow the actions of some of Europe’s best Beach Volleyball teams. The top two seeds of the tournament finished their duties with two victories in as many matches they played on the first day of the main draw.
The Spanish number one seeded Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira started their campaign by delivering a strong performance as they try to cement their leading role in Europe after winning gold at last year’s European Championship in Klagenfurt and settling for fourth place at this year’s Final in Cagliari. The Spaniards defeated their opponents from Germany and Switzerland on Friday: they started out with a speedy 21-13, 21-16 win over Switzerland’s Mats Kovatsch and Jonas Kissling before their second match with Germany’s Sebastian Dollinger and Lars Flüggen lasted for 47 minutes (18-21, 21-14, 15-7). On Saturday Herrera and Gavira will play the Italian Ingrosso twins, Paolo and Matteo, for first place in their pool and so the fans can expect an exciting match to open the programme of the competition on the next-to-last day of the tournament.
In Pool B, Poland’s Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz lead the way after playing a thrilling game (28-26, 21-17) with Dutch legend and triple European champion Reinder Nummerdor and his young partner Steven van de Velde. However, home hero Sébastien Chevallier wants to take over the lead in the group together with his teammate Alexei Strasser; the Swiss national player and ambassador of the Beachmania took a series of positives from the two games contested on Friday, even though the Swiss tandem lost their first game of the day to Austria’s Peter Eglseer and Felix Koraimann: “The defeat in the opening game was a big deception for us. Nevertheless, we improved ourselves today; I think this effort we made will be very important for tomorrow. We are willing to claim the first place in the pool by winning our last match with the team from Poland,” he said.
The real sensation of the tournament so far was provided by Estonia’s Kristo Kollo and Rivo Vesik (pictured). The #11 pair of the tournament won both of their matches on Friday – the second over the hosts Philip Gabathuler/Mirco Gerson in front of the passionate Swiss home crowd and after an incredible comeback (24-26, 21-14, 15-9). Nevertheless, the Swiss players still have the opportunity to win Pool C. Philip Gabathuler is confident ahead of the challenge coming up tomorrow where the bronze medallists from this year’s FIVB Anapa Open will play Poland’s Bartosz Losiak and Piotr Kantor: “We committed too many errors in our second match and had to pay a high price for it, but we have to stay focused now and be ready for the big games tomorrow.”
Big duels are coming up also in Pool D, as all four teams got one victory and have the possibility to win the group. The big game on Saturday morning will feature Germany’s Markus Böckermann/Mischa Urbatzka and 2014 European bronze medallists Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst of Austria; these teams will be fighting for victory and also for a ticket to progress straight to the quarterfinals thereby enjoying some extra rest before the competition reaches its climax.
Click here for further information or visit the official website www.beachmania.ch
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