13/09/2014 21:17
Home favourites Borger and Büthe lead strong German contingent in battle for the medals at CEV Stuttgart Satellite
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellites - Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany, September 13, 2014. Germany’s and local heroines Karla Borger and Britta Büthe lived up to their status as top seed of the CEV Satellite tournament in Stuttgart by making the final which is scheduled for Sunday. The silver medallists from last year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship – who live and train at the Olympic Training Centre in Stuttgart – got the right to vie for the title after edging the runners-up from this year’s CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship, Switzerland Tanja Goricanec and Tanja Hüberli, in four sets (15-13, 15-12, 13-15, 16-14).
“We know them very well from the World Tour,” Karla Borger said. “Against the Tanjas we always get to play very close matches.” On Sunday at 2 pm local time, Borger and Büthe will be playing another Swiss team in the final, Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Vergé-Dépré, who last August won silver at the CEV Biel/Bienne Masters. The Swiss pair also needed four sets in their semi-final with Giulia Momoli and Lucia Bacchi (15-9, 15-12, 12-15, 15-13) but in the end they could stand the challenge brought by Italy’s vice champions.
Borger and Büthe will be playing in the final a team, Forrer/Vergé-Dépré, with whom they trained on the centre court in Stuttgart on Thursday, i.e. on the eve of the start of their home campaign.
The host country has already secured a medal also in the men’s competition since the first semi-final coming up at 9:30 am on Sunday will be a German derby where brothers Armin and Sebastian Dollinger will be playing Philipp Arne Bergmann and Malte Stiel. There actually will be at least two medals for Germany in the men’s competition since the winners of this year’s World University Championships, Tim Holler and Jonas Schröder, have also progressed to the semis and will play there Poland’s Michal Bryl and Kacper Kujawiak. Holler and Schröder will be trying to win their first medal on the CEV circuit this year after they had to be content with fourth places at the Baden Masters and at the Novi Sad Masters as well.
The day started with a little disappointment for the German contingent and their mentor Jörg Ahmann, a bronze medallist from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, as Anna Behlen and Anika Krebs rather surprisingly lost to Italy’s Giulia Momoli and Lucia Bacchi in four sets (13-15, 15-13, 12-15, 10-15). The match started at 8 am but Ahmann does not want to look for excuses: “This does not explain the bad performance of our team. The starting time does not really matter: it is all about the will and determination to play a good game.”
After rain and cold weather had an impact on the tournament throughout the past days, the organisers are confident that the sun will come out on Sunday once the top teams will be fighting for the medals.
All semi-final and final matches will be streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
Click here for more information or visit the official website www.stuttgart-beach-open.de
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