16/06/2012 21:00
Teams from Russia and Switzerland book semifinal spots in Umag
CEV Beach Volleyball Challenger & Satellites
Umag, Croatia, June 16, 2012. Mirco Gerson/Philip Gabathuler of Switzerland as well as Russia’s Ruslan Bykanov/Pavel Karpukhin cruised to the semifinals of the CEV Satellite in Umag as Saturday’s actions were accompanied by perfect weather conditions, with the temperatures having moved up to 30 degrees there on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The two remaining semifinalists will be determined on Sunday morning at around noon, with the semis and finals scheduled for the late afternoon.
Bykanov/Karpukhin are the real sensation of the tournament so far as they started their campaign in Umag by edging Germany’s Tilo Backhaus/Dirk Westphal in the qualification round that was played on Thursday. The Russian guys then opened their adventure in the Main Draw by downing – in straight sets – Portugal’s Rosas/Moreira to sweep also their next three matches against much decorated pairs, and namely Czech Dumek/Tichy, Austria’s Kunert/Petutschnig and Turkey’s Murat Giginoglu/Hakan Gögtepe, where they got past in three close sets (21-15, 18-21, and 17-15).
Mirco Gerson/Philip Gabathuler stretched their winning streak in the Main Draw and after edging their compatriots Bissig/Beyeler in straight sets, they powered past Germany’s Dollinger/Stiel after a very tough game (21-18, 18-21, 15-13) and eventually pocketed their ticket for the semis via a double 21-19 to beat Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak who had sailed through their previous matches without conceding any set to their opponents.
Kantor and Losiak still have the chance to make it to the semis in Umag as they play Austria’s Kunert/Petutschnig on Sunday at around noon; after losing to Bykanov and Karpukhin, the duo from Austria re-started its adventure via the losers’ bracket winning a very close match against Bulgaria’s Neven Neshev/Valentin Dimov and then powering past Portugal’s Rosas/Moreira.
The second match with a slot for the semis at stake will feature Germany’s Dollinger/Stiel and Turkey’s Giginoglu/Gögtepe. After losing to Gerson/Gabathuler, Dollinger and Stiel got back on track by beating first Norway’s Kvalen/Solhaug (21-14, 14-21, and 15-10) and then Tichy/Dumek of the Czech Republic (21-15, 21-15) to stay in contention for the podium whose composition will be defined on Sunday afternoon.
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