27/05/2016 21:35
Top-seeded Germans take centre stage at Ankara Satellite
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Ankara
Ankara, Turkey, May 27, 2016. The inaugural CEV Satellite tournament in Ankara continued on Friday with as many as 12 matches on schedule following the start of the Main Draw. The event provides the participating teams with an opportunity to fight for 7,500 € prize money as well as for valuable FIVB / CEV ranking points. It is also the very first event of the 2016 European season which will soon reach its first climax with the CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final coming up next week in Biel / Bienne.
Poland’s Jagoda Gruszczynska/Dorota Strag opened the programme with a come-from-behind victory over Martina Bonnerova/Nicole Dostalova of the Czech Republic (16-21, 21-17, 17-15).
Milena Matic/Marija Milosevic of Serbia kind of shocked the audience with their spectacular 21-13, 21-18 win over the more experienced Cinja Tillmann/Sandra Seyfferth of Germany.
Dunja Gerson/Nicole Eiholzer of Switzerland extended their winning streak from Thursday’s qualification round cruising to a 21-17, 19-21, 15-9 win over Bianca Zass and Valerie Teufl of Austria.
Austria got something to celebrate later on as the silver medallists from the Baku 2015 European Games Katharina Schützenhöfer/Lena Plesiutschnig edged home stars Burcu Atasoy/Yaren Sencel 21-13, 21-12 in only 25 minutes.
Turkey suffered another setback in the following match where Teresa Mersmann and Isabel Schneider of Germany stamped a commanding 21-8, 21-16 victory over Aleyna Vence and Ebru Karayilan.
Norway’s Victoria Faye Kjølberg and Ingrid Lunde claimed a very close match with Monica Lestini and Agata Zuccarelli of Italy. The Scandinavians opened proceedings with a 21-18 set win before the Italians responded by winning the second 21-13. And yet the Norwegians had the upper hand at the end of a closely contested tie-break (16-14).
Turkey finally got something to celebrate as their best team, Merve Nezir/Esra Betul Cetin, stamped a 21-19, 21-16 win over Pigi Anna Metheniti/Anna Spanou of Greece.
Finally, Italy’s Rebecca Perry/Laura Giombini completed the programme of the first round with their hard-fought 21-19, 16-21, 15-13 win over Valentyna Davidova/Ievgeniia Shchypkova of Ukraine.
After that the competition resumed with the second round where Serbia’s Matic/Milosevic continued their display of fine form edging Poland’s rising stars Gruszczynska/Strag 12-21, 21-14, 15-9.
With three quarters of the Baku 2015 European Games gold medal match represented, Switzerland’s Eiholzer/Gerson edged Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig in three sets as well (21-19, 18-21, 15-12).
The next ones to celebrate were Norway’s Kjølberg/Lunde who upset local stars Nezir/Cetin with a 23-21, 21-17 win before a sell-out crowd at Atlantis Shopping Mall.
To cap Friday’s action, Mersmann/Schneider lived up to their status of first-seeded team of the tournament in the Turkish capital by virtue of their compelling 21-14, 21-6 win over Perry/Giombini of Italy.
Click here for more information including detailed results, a match programme, photos and much more
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