Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, January 13, 2018.  Saturday was no easy day for Latvians Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs, despite their successful entry into the men’s semifinals of the 2018 CEV Beach Volleyball European Masters in Pelhrimov without losing a set in either of their elimination matches. They had to work hard for both shutouts against higher-seeded compatriots from Latvia and home favourites from the Czech Republic.

Coming in from Thursday’s qualifications and the third place in Friday’s main draw Pool B, seventh-seeded Plavins and Tocs were destined to face fellow Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, seeded third. Both sets in this titanic clash were extended well into overtime, but both ended in favour of Plavins and Tocs – 2-0 (22-20, 29-27). In their quarterfinal match, the Latvians had to deal not only with a tough opponent, fourth-seeded Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, but also with the home crowd that packed the stands at the Beachwell to support their Czech favourites. Although this time only the second set went beyond the 21st point, it was once again a very tough duel, which ended Plavins and Tocs’ way in straight sets – 2-0 (21-16, 23-21).

“We are a little bit exhausted - it is tough to go from the qualifications to the semifinals two weeks in a row,” said Edgars Tocs, referring to last week’s four-star World Tour stop in The Hague. “But it is a good feeling to be in the semis again. The atmosphere here is great, and now, with the tribunes around the centre court, it is even better.”

“We are a new team so we need points. I mean entry points. So we are going out for many tournaments,” Martins Plavins commented. “We are very happy to be here. The organisation is great, the accommodation too, so everything here is perfect. We want to show our best in the semifinals.”

The Latvian pair will come out on the sand for the first men’s semifinal at 11:00 local time on Sunday facing probably the toughest challenge so far in Pelhrimov – Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak. The top-seeded Poles had only one match on Saturday and won it by a comfortable 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) against Switzerland’s Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger.

2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen also made the semifinals in Pelhrimov, but had to go through a couple of nail-biting third sets along the way. The fifth-seeded Dutchmen came from behind against Norway’s Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sørum to claim a 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 16-14) win in the first elimination round. In the quarterfinals, they emerged victorious from an even tougher battle against Poland’s Mariusz Prudel and Jakub Szalankiewicz. The decisive tie-breaker went to the full length of a regular set before finally being resolved in favour of Brouwer and Meeuwsen – 2-1 (18-21, 21-14, 21-19).

At noon on Sunday, the Dutch duo will lock horns with second-seeded Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst. The Austrians managed to beat Poland’s Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek in straight sets – 2-0 (21-19, 21-12), but then had to make their way back from losing the first set in their quarterfinal with Belgium’s Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle to recover for a 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 15-11) victory.

All Sunday matches will be streamed live on CEV’s YouTube channel and the CEV Beach Volleyball Facebook page and will be available for viewing by the fans in the Czech Republic and all countries where the TV rights have not been purchased.

To follow the live score of all the games on the event’s webpage, click here.

Engage with the 2018 CEV Beach Volleyball European Masters Pelhrimov on social media by using the competition’s official hashtag #EuroBeachVolley.

Click here for more information on the Pelhrimov Masters.