04/06/2016 17:00
Borger/Büthe claim German derby of Olympic significance to progress to semis
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Biel / Bienne, Switzerland, June 4, 2016. On Friday Czech Beach Volleyball star Marketa Slukova said any match with a team from your own country is always a bit ‘spicy’. This same adjective could describe the much anticipated German derby that everyone expected to contribute to the major highlight of the women’s quarterfinals at the 2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final in Biel / Bienne. Karla Borger and Britta Büthe (pictured) eventually edged their countrywomen Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler in a match that had a lot of significance – and not only because a spot in the #EuroBeachVolley semis was at stake.
The 2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final is being extensively covered on the CEV website (click here) as well as on all CEV social media pages; a comprehensive live gallery of the competition is available here while additional information can be found on the organisers’ website www.beacheuro2016.ch.
German derby on the #RoadToRio
Borger and Büthe won the first set 21-18 and seemed to have secured their progression to the semis when leading by three points in the second – and yet they could not capitalise on three match balls while Holtwick/Semmler showed composure and nerves of steel to fight back and eventually take the set 22-20. The same almost happened also in the tie-break where Borger and Büthe claimed an 11-8 lead before Holtwick/Semmler responded with a run of four straight points to flip the charts around and edge ahead 12-11. A time-out obviously helped Borger and Büthe re-focus and they eventually took the set 15-13 and with it the match 2-1 to make it to the semis of the European Championship for the first time in their career.
“I think towards the end of the match we were all a bit nervous as we knew how much was at stake since this is a European Championship Final,” Büthe commented. “I told Karla that it was some kind of a live-or-die situation, and finally we did not make the same mistakes as in the second set. We remained focussed and determined, and this way we succeeded in taking the final points of the tie-break. Many thanks to all the spectators for their support, especially since they do not stop rooting for us despite the sometimes challenging weather conditions.”
Borger/Büthe and Holtwick/Semmler are currently fighting for Germany’s second spot at the Rio 2016 Olympics and as a result today’s match had much importance on the road that takes to Brazil.
Czech fairy tale continues
The fairy tale of Marketa Slukova/Barbora Hermannova continued on Saturday afternoon when the Czechs edged 2014 European champions Madelein Meppelink and Marleen van Iersel of The Netherlands 21-17, 21-16. Hermannova seemed to have fully recovered from the physical problems she had suffered on Friday night in the dramatic matchup with Swiss home stars Nadine Zumkehr and Joana Heidrich.
“This is some kind of dream that has come true,” Hermannova said. “We have been playing together for less than one year and we have already won one gold medal on the World Tour and are now in the semis of our first European Championship together,” she added. “I would like to thank the local medical staff who has been taking very good care of us since the beginning of this week; last night the physios stayed with me until well after midnight, so that today I was ready to perform again.”
Though they had shattered all Swiss dreams of glory on Friday night, Slukova and Hermannova enjoyed much of the support from the local audience. “I would like to thank everyone here for their support,” Slukova said addressing the spectators. “And I also would like to thank our coaching staff as they have been doing a great job this week scouting our opponents and preparing each game plan accordingly.”
Remake of 2015 gold medal match to highlight semis
The gold and silver medallists from last year’s European Championship in Klagenfurt also made it to the semis. Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst beat French sensation Laura Longuet/Alexandra Jupiter after coming from behind in the opening set (21-16, 21-19). In the semis they will go for a remake of the 2015 gold medal match with Russia’s Ekaterina Birlova/Evgenia Ukolova who earlier in the afternoon edged Germany’s Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude 21-19, 18-21, 15-10.
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