03/11/2016 22:42
Last CEV Beach Volleyball tournament of the year underway in Pelhřimov with country quotas
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Pelhřimov
Pelhřimov, Czech Republic, November 3, 2016. Even though the local people from Vysočina region are adjusting to cold weather, Pelhřimov has started to live for Beach Volleyball. The state-of-the-art facilities available at Beachwell – including two covered courts, one warm-up court in a temporary heated tent, fitness, sauna, a cryochamber and a cosy bar – are hosting this weekend a CEV indoor Beach Volleyball Satellite, the last European event on schedule for this busy Olympic year.
After a few withdrawals announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, only five Czech men’s teams and three Czech women’s teams were supposed to contest the country quota playoffs opening the programme of the tournament on Thursday with one spot at stake per gender to progress to the qualification round. The matches started at 3 pm and were all streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
The women’s country quotas included only two matches. The final and deciding match was supposed to be quite an easy task for Czech youth national team Daniela Resová and Tereza Kotlasová who earlier this summer had finished fifth at the FIVB U19 World Championships in Larnaka, Cyprus. But it wasn’t meant to go this way. Their experienced opponents Anna Dostálová and Eliška Nováková, who finished in fourth place at this year’s Czech national championship, surprised their younger compatriots with clever and effective play, which eventually resulted in a compelling 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) victory. Anna Dostálová, the defender of the duo and sister of Josef Dostál, an Olympic medallist in canoeing from Rio 2016, was pleased after the match: “There are some teams against whom I feel more self-confident and these girls belong to these teams. We are looking forward to the next matches in the qualification but it is a long way there.”
The men’s programme included four matches with pre-favourites Jan Dumek and Robert Kufa, guys who have belonged to the Czech Beach Volleyball elite for many years, playing Marcel Mysliveček and Martin David. Nevertheless, Mysliveček and David showed more accuracy and strong nerves at the end of two closely contested sets, which they claimed by the score of 23-21 and 22-20 to secure their progression to the qualification round. Martin David saw the difference in height as one of the keys to victory while 31-year-old Marcel Mysliveček praised their new partnership: “This is our first tournament together. We agreed to play together in winter. If everything goes well, we will continue during the summer season as well. I was thinking to play with some younger player but I still don’t feel experienced enough.”
Mysliveček, his 33-year-old partner David, but also Dumek/Kufa as lucky losers and 22 other teams will compete in the qualification of the CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite in Pelhřimov starting on Friday morning from 8:30 am. Only four teams per gender will eventually make it through to the Main Draw.
Click here for further information including detailed entry lists, results and much more
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