Baden, Austria, May 27, 2014. The final countdown to the first Masters tournament of the year is underway as the double-gender 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Baden Masters is taking off this coming Wednesday.
Europe’s beach volleyball lives in anticipation for the start of this tournament as it will mark the start of what is expected to be a great European Championship season with as many as five events, four of which featuring competitions for both genders, that is roughly 100% increase from 2013’s three events, two of which double-gender.
In addition to battling out for a larger piece of the 50,000 € pie reserved for the two genders in Baden, the best beach volleyball duos on the continent will get a good chance to measure up to each other’s strengths and adjust their current states of affairs shortly before the most important continental competition of the season, the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final from June 3 through 8 in Cagliari.
What started small in 2005 has established itself in recent years as one of the top fixtures in the CEV beach volleyball calendar. The stadium for the milestone tenth tournament in Baden is now ready. 10,000 tons of special beach volleyball quality quartz sand was used for the courts. Another 80 tons of steel were used to construct the 1,500-seat stands, where around 20,000 spectators are expected over the four competition days. And a small town of 20 special-purpose tents has been erected.
Most importantly, an impressive line-up of beach volleyball stars have registered for participation. On the women’s side, all eyes will be on the home heroines, Austria’s 2013 sports team of the year, the defending Baden champions and reigning European champions Doris Schwaiger / Stefanie Schwaiger. Czechs Kristyna Kolocova / Marketa Slukova, who last Sunday emerged victorious with the gold medals from the FIVB World Tour Prague Open, will be joining the Baden main draw. The 2013 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship silver medalists Liliana Fernandez Steiner / Elsa Baquerizo McMillan from Spain will also take part in the sand battles in Strandbad.
The incumbent men’s European champions Pablo Herrera Allepuz / Adrian Gavira Collado from Spain will be featured on Baden sand and so will the bronze medalists Grzegorz Fijalek / Mariusz Prudel from Poland. 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen from the Netherlands are also sure to attract a lot of attention during this upcoming Masters tournament. The home country Austria’s representatives will be led by the 2013 Novi Sad Masters winners Clemens Doppler / Alexander Horst, while young compatriots Tobias Winter / Lorenz Petutschnig, who claimed bronze from the 2013 U23 FIVB World Championship, received a wild card for the main draw.
"We are really looking forward to the 10th anniversary of the tournament in Baden,” Dominik Gschiegl, CEO of the promoter VISION05, stated. “With the best main draw in Baden’s history, including world champions, European champions and World Tour winners, the CEV Baden Masters presented by Sport.Land.NÖ will be a spectacular tournament for sure.”
“Besides world class beach volleyball, fans can expect Baden’s unique atmosphere, great side events on and alongside the center court and, of course, a memorable official Ö3 beach volleyball party presented by spark7 on Friday,” added the other VISION05 CEO Nicolas Hold.
The Baden Masters country quota playoffs are scheduled for Wednesday. Thursday’s program will feature the qualification matches for both genders. Both the men’s and the women’s 16-team main draw tournaments are set to start on Friday with the men’s final four matches slated for Saturday and the women’s for Sunday.
Click here for more information on the tournament.