08/08/2015 20:42
Underdogs bite back in the men’s elimination phase at Biel/Bienne Masters
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Biel/Bienne Masters
Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, August 8, 2015. On Saturday outsiders Illia Kovalov/Oleh Plotnytskiy of Ukraine sensationally reached the semi-finals of the 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Biel/Bienne Masters, whilst all three Swiss teams and 2014 gold medallists Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira of Spain were eliminated from the competition.
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The 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – Biel/Bienne Masters is being covered extensively also on Twitter and Facebook with the official hashtags being #EuroBeachVolley and #Beachmania
There were soaring temperatures on the shores of Lake Biel once again in the penultimate day of the tournament as the men’s eliminatory rounds began, and after Round 1 on Saturday morning, everything was set for some mouth-watering quarterfinals in the afternoon. Here was where Kovalov/Plotnytskiy stole the day’s headlines in a fascinating battle of the underdogs with Swiss dark horses Nico Beeler/Alexei Strasser on centre court. Having already taken the scalp of last year’s bronze medallists Luis Alfredo Marco/Christian Garcia of Spain in Round 1, the Ukrainian youngsters proved that tournaments can be all about peaking at the right time, as they prevailed with only their third win in Biel/Bienne, beating the Swiss 21-18, 21-15 in a 33-minute bout.
In the quarterfinal clash of the titans, 2014 gold medallists and title favourites Herrera/Gavira played fifth seeds Alexander Walkenhorst/Clemens Wickler of Germany. Another huge shock was to come as the champions were unable to cope with the Germans’ creativity and blocking game on court and their title defence ended with a 0-2 (18-21, 18-21) defeat. A new champion will, therefore, be crowned after Sunday’s final.
After a spectacular victory in the all-Swiss encounter with Philip Gabathuler/Mirco Gerson in Round 1, home heroes Mats Kovatsch/Jonas Kissling faced a mammoth-task against the mighty Italian twins Matteo and Paolo Ingrosso. Despite a valiant effort, Kovatsch/Kissling saw their journey at this year’s championship end here as the Italians quickly gained the upper hand and coasted to a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) victory. The Ingrosso twins are now clear favourites to end the tournament as champions on Sunday having not dropped a single set in this year’s competition.
Having gone about their business in Biel/Bienne rather inconspicuously, the Latvian duo of Haralds Regza/Martins Plavins can’t be counted out of title contention either. Still undefeated, the gold medallists from the Baku 2015 European Games secured their most important victory on Saturday, needing only 40 minutes to settle their quarterfinal with Poland’s Maciej Kosiak/Maciej Rudol prevailing 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) to march on into the semi-finals.
Over the course of the tournament, the strongest teams have been singled out at the 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Biel/Bienne Masters and now only four remain. They will now take to the court once more to battle it out in the semi-finals, where it will be make-or-break as they seek out a chance of vying for the coveted gold medal in Sunday’s grand finale.
Kovalov/Plotnytskiy face Walkenhorst/Wickler in the first semi-final at 10:00, and Regza/Plavins square up against Ingrosso/Ingrosso at 11:00, with the bronze medal match taking place at 13:00 before the ‘grand finale’ follows at 15:30.
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