10/06/2016 03:32
Teams from seven countries secure Main Draw spot at Vilnius Satellite
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Vilnius
Vilnius, Lithuania, June 9, 2016. The qualification round of the CEV Satellite tournament in Vilnius was contested on Thursday with a total of 16 teams competing for eight spots at stake to progress to the Main Draw. At the end of the day, teams from Norway, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia and Germany got the right to join the Main Draw to stay in contention for the medals whose eventual winners will be celebrated on Sunday.
Home duo Migle Mazurkeviciute/Ieva Vasiliauskaite started the qualification round by hoping to join another three Lithuanian teams already seeded in the Main Draw. Unfortunately, the hosts crossed their ways with those of Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova/Ievgeniia Shchypkova, and the winners of the EEVZA Moscow Masters did not leave that many chances to the home team. The Lithuanian side managed to win the opening set but their rivals regrouped and levelled the game, showing their skills and easily claiming a spot in the Main Draw (18-21, 21-4, 15-8).
Still the Lithuanian players took quite some positives from their experience: “We wanted to play and have fun with what we are doing. We were aware of our little chances against the Ukrainian team, so we just kept on playing our own game. We started off confidently and our opponents did not expect that kind of pressure from us. However, as the match progressed, they showed us their best game, while we started making many mistakes,” Migle Mazurkevičiute said.
Her partner Ieva Vasiliauskaite admitted that their partnership is still a very young one: “We wanted to gain some experience as we do not have a lot of competitions of such calibre. We still have some time to improve,” she said.
After three challenging and dramatic sets Norway’s Ane Guro Tveit Hjortland/Victoria Faye Kjølberg also progressed to the Main Draw after claiming their matchup (24-26, 21-16, 16-14) against their Czech rivals Martina Bonnerova/Nicole Dostalova. After losing the first set against the Czech team, Hjortland/Kjølberg played with much resilience, edged ahead by two points in the deciding set and this way they also sealed their place in the Main Draw.
Bulgaria’s Diana Malinova/Rusena Slancheva also qualified for the Main Draw after playing a three-set match with Israel’s Jennifer Guz/Yael Yellin (21-19, 19-21, 15-11).
Germany’s Lisa Arnholdt/Anni Schumacher did not have it easy in their matchup with Lana Sorokina and Inese Jursone of Latvia. After losing the first set at a canter, the Germans realised they had to step up their efforts and did so eventually pulling out a 2-1 victory (10-21, 21-12, 15-9) making sure they stay alive in the tournament and progress to the Main Draw.
Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya/Viktoryia Siakretava from Belarus did not leave any chance to another Latvian team, Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka and their 2-0 victory (21-16, 21-16) was more than enough to be promoted to the Main Draw.
Bulgaria’s Irena Mishonova/Svetla Angelova started their match with Denmark’s Helle Søndergård/Line Trans Hansen by comfortably claiming the opening set 21-14, however they let the match slip away from their hands in the second set. At the end of a very close affair Mishonova and Angelova claimed the tie-break to record a 2-1 win (21-14, 8-21, 16-14) and make sure Bulgaria have two teams in the Main Draw of the tournament.
Karolina Rehackova/Magdalena Dostalova from the Czech Republic did not find too much resistance in their 2-0 victory (21-9, 21-17) over another Bulgarian team, Slavina Koleva and Asya Dinova.
Latvia finally qualified one team for the Main Draw after Alise Lece/Marta Ozolina stamped a 21-16, 23-21 win over Ida Sinisalo/Niina Ahtiainen from Finland.
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