06/07/2016 20:44
Timisoara Satellite underway, three Austrian teams through to Main Draw
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Timisoara
Timisoara, Romania, July 6, 2016. The second edition of the CEV Satellite tournament in Timisoara started on Wednesday with the qualification round and this brought some disappointment to the local fans since the home team Ioana Ordean/Angelica Podina lost to Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka 15-21, 13-21 to miss out on a spot in the Main Draw. Later in the afternoon, Graudina – a gold medallist from last year’s U18 European Championship – and Kravcenoka secured their progression to the Main Draw with a comfortable victory over Israel’s Yael Yellin and Jennifer Guz (21-13, 21-15).
“They are taller than us and this had an impact on the outcome of the match. We have been playing together for only as few days before coming here and unfortunately we did not manage to beat our opponents in the first round,” Angelica Podina commented.
Her partner Ioana Ordean added: “I think that compared to last year the level of the competition is much higher. I want to congratulate our opponents because they played a good match but I am sad that we could not win. Unfortunately we are now eliminated from this tournament but I would like to wish the best of luck to all teams that are still in the race.”
One of the highlights of the opening day was provided by Sandra Ittlinger and Yanina Weiland as the Germans fought hard to edge Denmark’s Cecilie Olsen/Eva Mielskov Bang in three sets (21-12, 18-21, 15-13).
In the second round of the qualification tournament, fourth-seeded Lisa Arnholdt and Anni Schumacher of Germany suffered a fairly unexpected setback at the hands of their compatriots Kim Behrens and Nadja Glenzke who cruised to a 21-18, 22-20 win at the end of a close match.
There were ups and downs for the Greek teams. Evangelia Merteki/Konstantina Tsopoulou claimed a surprising victory over Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaite/Urte Andriukaityte 21-19, 24-22 but Dimitra Manavi/Ioanna Parisaki were not able to stand the challenge brought by Bulgaria’s Slavina Koleva and Asya Dinova who ultimately won 22-20, 14-21, 15-11. Parisaki scored many times with her powerful spikes but the Bulgarian block worked just fine in the tie-break.
As many as three Austrian teams booked a spot in the Main Draw on Wednesday with twin sisters Nadine and Teresa Strauss joined by Cornelia Rimser/Katharina Almer and Bianca Zass/Valerie Teufl. Apart from Koleva/Dinova, another Bulgarian tandem secured a spot in the Main Draw with Irena Mishonova/Svetla Angelova claiming the derby with Rusena Slancheva and Diana Malinova 21-17, 21-12.
Some 200 fans were in attendance on the opening day of the tournament but a lot more should gather on Thursday for the start of the Main Draw with two Romanian teams set to enter the competition; the organisers expect at least 400 supporters to come together to cheer the home teams on. The first day of the tournament already set the tone for what is going to follow with matches resuming on Thursday morning at 10am local time and the tournament reaching its climax on Saturday when the semis and finals will be contested.
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