03/06/2016 17:45
Slukova claims Czech derby, focuses on long-term goals with new partner
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Biel / Bienne, Switzerland, June 3, 2016. On Friday afternoon the eyes of many Beach Volleyball fans were on the side courts at Biel / Bienne where a much anticipated Czech derby was played. The eventual winners would have secured a spot among the top 16 women’s teams of the 2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final. In the end, Marketa Slukova and Barbora Hermannova edged their countrywomen Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova 21-17, 21-14 to play home stars Nadine Zumkehr and Joana Heidrich of Switzerland in the next round.
The 2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final is being extensively covered on the CEV website (click here) as well as on all CEV social media pages; a comprehensive live gallery of the competition is available here while additional information can be found on the organisers’ website www.beacheuro2016.ch.
Together Slukova and Kolocova composed the most successful Czech pair of the last decade but last summer they announced they would part ways, doing so shortly before the European Championship Final in Klagenfurt. “I think any match with a team from your own country is always kind of spicy,” Slukova commented afterwards. “This was the first time Kristyna and I played against each other since we split last year. However, at least as far as I am concerned, this was a match like any other. Our focus was essentially on making it to the next round of this tournament, no matter who was standing on the other side of the net. In my opinion we are professionals and we should behave accordingly in everything we do,” she added.
Slukova and Hermannova formed their partnership right in the middle of the 2015 season but they have achieved quite a lot even in such short time, including a gold medal from last year’s FIVB Antalya Open. “We get along very well, also emotionally. Barbora is a very nice girl to play with and it is like a second marriage. You learn from the mistakes you made in the past and try to avoid making the same errors. Our partnership has been working really well so far and we hope we can keep on improving and will be able to compete at the highest level,” Slukova said.
Their European Championship campaign has been a pretty good one so far
though they dropped a pool match to 2015 European champions Laura Ludwig
and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany. Since they formed their partnership
quite recently, they knew already from the first day of this journey
together that it would be almost impossible to qualify for the Olympics
via the Olympic ranking. However, Slukova has set her sights on pursuing
rather long-term goals.
“We knew it was going to be hard, especially since the competition is getting tougher and tougher. There are many good teams, all being coached and managed very professionally, and they all can rely on very good infrastructure,” Slukova stressed. “Back home in the Czech Republic people sometimes do not quite understand how tough it is to be competitive at the highest level in this sport, mostly because they rarely get to see matches on TV and many people know fairly little of our sport.”
Slukova and former partner Kolocova finished fifth at the London 2012 Olympics, what was an outstanding result for themselves and their country also. “I know the competition will be tough also at the Continental Cup Final in Stavanger where there will be a number of very good teams, like for instance those from Finland and Austria, who have won World Tour medals. However, we just want to perform our best and see if this is enough to make it to the Olympics. At the end of the day I do not wish to qualify for the Olympics and once you get there, you end up losing all of your matches. I just want to be as competitive as possible, knowing that we can beat anyone and stand a chance against any opponent,” she continued. “This means we go to Stavanger without feeling too much pressure, but still determined to do our best.”
Hermannova has been enjoying the partnership with Slukova as well: “I feel privileged to be playing with Marketa. When she asked me if I wanted to play with her, that was a real honour. I had played with Martina Bonnerova for a number of years and we had achieved some good results, but with Marketa I feel like we can set higher goals and I can go for something bigger,” she said.
Earlier this year their home country, the Czech Republic, played host to the first stop of the inaugural CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour but Slukova and Hermannova do not seem likely to be willing to test their skills on snow, at least for the time being: “Well, frankly speaking this kind of activity would clash with the kind of preparation we do during the winter season, where we try to stay as injury-free as possible,” Hermannova said. “I have seen pictures of the competition in Spindleruv Mlyn and it looks like despite the weather was not that good, everyone had loads of fun and the event was a big success.”
“Personally I rather like warm weather, but from what I have seen and heard, there are many cool side events along with the tournament. Most probably I would rather visit the competition, have a drink right by the court and watch the others play,” Slukova added. “I agree with what Barbora just said. I would be a little afraid of getting injured and especially in an Olympic year you try to be as careful as possible in everything you do. Maybe in the future, when we take Beach Volleyball a little bit easier, we will give it a try.”
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