16/08/2015 22:44
From country quota to gold medal – Germany’s Schillerwein/Tillmann success story at CEV Satellite in Timisoara
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Timisoara
Timisoara, Romania, August 16, 2015. Germany’s Katarina Schillerwein and Cinja Tillmann completed on Sunday an incredible run at the inaugural CEV Satellite tournament held in Romania’s third-largest city, Timisoara. They indeed had started their campaign already on Wednesday with two country quota matches and on Sunday they capped a fabulous week winning gold following their 2:1 win (21-16, 18-21, 15-11) in the final match with their countrywomen Teresa Mersmann and Isabel Schneider. Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Nicole Eiholzer got bronze after Russia’s Olga Motrich and Nadezhda Makroguzova forfeited the ‘small final’ due to Makroguzova’s injury.
Mersmann/Schneider seemed to be en route towards their third gold medal on the European circuit this summer after they had already topped the charts at the Satellite events organised in Molodechno, Belarus, and Vaduz, Liechtenstein. They further cemented their status as pre-favourites with a classy performance in their semi-final with Betschart/Eiholzer, edging the Baku 2015 European Games gold medallists in two sets (21-18, 21-18).
The other semi-final was an incredible drama which lasted for more than one hour before Schillerwein and Tillmann claimed their spot in the final act of the tournament with a hard-fought 2:1 (21-15, 32-34, 17-15) win over Motrich and 2013 U18 European champion Makroguzova.
After that Schillerwein and Tillmann completed their fabulous campaign in Timisoara edging Mersmann and Schneider in the final to record their eighth straight win in the competition (two from the country quota, one from the qualification round and another five in the main draw).
“It was a very good tournament for us and we are happy that we could win all matches,” Cinja Tillmann said. “We did not expect to top the charts in the end. This is only the second year we are playing together. It was a good tournament and the level of the competition was very high, starting already with the country quota.”
Since the bronze medal match was not contested following the forfeit of Motrich and Makroguzova, Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Nicole Eiholzer played a friendly game with Romania’s Adriana Melniciuc and Adelina Budai-Ungureanu just to please the home audience in Timisoara.
The inaugural Satellite Timisoara received positive reviews from players and officials alike, and the local organisers are already drafting plans for a second edition to take place in 2016.
Click here for more info including entry lists, results, final standing, pictures and much more
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