19/09/2015 19:49
Day of sensational results at Milan Masters, vice world champions out
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Milan Masters
Milano, Italy, September 19, 2015. The second day of action at the Milan Masters – last stop of this year’s CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – delivered a bunch of rather sensational results as the Main Draw got underway and the teams progressing straight to Round 3 were eventually determined. As many as 20 matches were played on Saturday at the iconic venue set up right next to the premises that host the regional government of Lombardy in Italy’s second largest city. The four teams that have secured their qualification to Round 3 are Italy’s home heroes Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo, 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands, Poland’s Maciej Kosiak/Maciej Rudol and Belgium’s sensation Dries Koekelkoren/Tom Van Walle.
2014 European champions Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo – who last week finished third at the FIVB World Tour Sochi Open in Russia – had a very challenging first round match with Germany’s twins Bennet and David Poniewaz (26-24, 30-28) before they recorded an easier 21-16, 21-18 win over Denmark’s Peter Kildegaard/Kristoffer Abell who had made the Main Draw via the qualification round contested on Friday.
Their next opponents will be Belgium’s Koekelkoren/Van Walle who caused the sensation of the day by upsetting in Round 2 2015 world silver medallists Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst of The Netherlands 21-17, 21-16. Nummerdor and Varenhorst – who this year have also won bronze at the European Championship in Klagenfurt – had to fight their way back through the losers’ bracket but they were eventually eliminated from the tournament after losing also to Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula of Italy. The 2015 European silver medallists from Italy got back on track after losing their opening match on Saturday to Germany’s outsiders Tim Holler and Jonas Schröder (14-21, 19-21).
The most interesting and entertaining match of the day was provided by Nummerdor/Varenhorst, the first seed of the Milan Masters, and Ranghieri/Carambula who had entered the competition seeded as no. 3. At the end of a close affair, which was well appreciated by the audience, Ranghieri and Carambula had the upper hand (21-14, 19-21, 15-10) in a match that many had predicted would have been contested only a way later in the tournament with a medal at stake.
Two home teams – Nicolai/Lupo and Ranghieri/Carambula – are therefore still in contention for the medals. Marco Caminati and Enrico Rossi have finished their home campaign in 13th place after losing first to England’s Jake Sheaf/Chris Gregory and then also to Austria’s Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl.
Those still fighting for glory in the losers’ bracket are the Poniewaz twins, Denmark’s Kildegaard and Abell, Germany’s Holler/Schröder and Ranghieri/Carambula.
The actions will resume on Sunday morning at 8:30 am local time with the medal matches set to follow later in the afternoon, starting at 4:30 pm local time.
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