11/09/2014 20:45
German teams shine on opening day of Stuttgart Satellite
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellites - Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany, September 11, 2014. The CEV Satellite tournament in Stuttgart – the first international competition of this calibre to take place in this city – got started on Thursday with the qualification round whereby eight teams per gender were promoted to the main draw starting on Friday. Similarly to all other CEV Satellite tournaments organised this year, with the only exception being the event held in Vaduz, all matches are being played in a best-of-five format, with sets up to 15 points and the eventual tie-break up to seven points respectively.
The players who joined the qualification round were impressed by the quality of the venue and of the sand prepared by the organisers at the Olympic Training Centre in Stuttgart. The first match of the tournament was an all-German country quota where Anna Behlen/Anika Krebs edged their compatriots Katharina Schillerwein/Cinja Tillmann in three sets (15-9, 15-10, 15-13). This way Behlen (pictured) and Krebs – an U22 team mentored by 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Jörg Ahmann – was promoted to the qualification round where they prolonged their winning streak beating Denmark’s Line Trans Hansen/Helle Sondergard also in three straight sets (15-13, 15-10, 15-8) thereby getting the right to join the main draw starting on Friday.
A similar feat was achieved by Phillip Arne Bergmann/Malte Stiel who first claimed a dramatic country quota match with their countrymen Max Betzien/Mirko Schneider (15-12, 15-5, 16-18, 14-16, 10-8) and then recorded a 3:1 victory (15-8, 14-16, 15-12, 15-9) over Israel’s Sean Faiga and Ariel Hilman to progress to the main draw.
Other teams to advance to the main draw of the women’s competition are Austria’s Cornelia Rimser/Valerie Teufl, Spain’s Ester Ribera Boter/Amaranta Fernandez, France’s Laura Longuet and Mélinda Adelin, Italy’s Giulia Momoli/Lucia Bacchi, Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Marta Ozolina and Dutchwomen Laura Bloem/Marloes Wesselink and Jolien Sinnema/Lauri Luijken.
Beside Bergmann/Stiel, Austria’s Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler, Italy’s Matteo Cecchini/Paolo Ficosecco, Norway’s Iver Andreas Horrem/Geir Eithun, Poland’s Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak, England’s Jake Sheaf/Chris Gregory, France’s Adrian Caravano/Martel Bosqui and Denmark’s Peter Kildegaard/Martin Olesen all found their way to the main draw.
The Beach Volleyball Coordinator of the German Volleyball Federation (DVV), Raimund Wenning, was happy with the results of the home teams in the qualification round: “It is always good also for the organisers and of course for the sponsors as well if many of the home teams make the main draw and maybe then continue their campaign all the way to a place on the podium,” he said.
The matches of the main draw will start on Friday morning at 9 am on three different courts at the same time. Germany’s reigning champions Karla Borger and Britta Büthe will be among the ones to watch out for: “I am happy that finally actions get started,” Borger says. “It is very impressive to see how our regular training base has been transformed, slowly but surely, into the venue of an international Beach Volleyball competition.”
The tournament in Stuttgart will continue all the way through to Sunday, September 14, where the finals will be played. A purse of € 10,000 per gender is at stake together with valuable FIVB/CEV ranking points.
All matches played on the centre court as well as on court 2 are streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
Click here for more information or visit the official website www.stuttgart-beach-open.de
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