19/05/2018 00:01
Italians silence Turkish crowd with tiebreak victory over ‘Queens of the Snow’
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Aydin
Aydin, Turkey, May 18, 2018. Italy’s Silvia Costantini and Agata Zuccarelli caused the major upset of the day at the 1-Star event in Aydin as they beat the reigning ‘Queens of the Snow’ and silver medallists from this year’s #EuroSnowVolley, Bugra Eryildiz and Aleyna Vence of Turkey, to provide the real highlight of the women’s tournament on the Turkish Aegean coast.
Friday’s Main Draw programme started with Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Mastikova storming to a 21-10, 21-9 victory over Turkey’s Tugba Ozdemir and Ebru Karayilan. Sweden’s Sofia Ögren and Camilla Nilsson recorded a similarly compelling victory (21-10, 21-13) in their matchup with Konstantina Tsopoulou and Dimitra Manavi of Greece. Turkey’s Müge Ocakci/Merve Celebi lost 11-21, 16-21 to Cuba’s Leila Martinez and Mailen Deliz.
The Thurin twins – Susanna and Kristina – claimed a hard-fought (21-18, 12-21, 16-14) victory in the Swedish derby with Tadva Yoken and Sigrid Simonsson. “We are not used to this kind of heat and it affected us,” Susanna Thurin commented. “To play such a long game under these conditions is even more difficult. We love the city and especially the fans coming to cheer all teams even during Ramadan. If we find our rhythm, I think we can make it further in this tournament.”
Norway’s Victoria Faye Kjølberg/Ane Guro Tveit Hjortland did not leave too many chances to another Turkish team, as they beat Merve Nezir and Selin Yurtsever 21-19, 21-17. After making it through Thursday’s qualification, Denmark’s Line Trans Hansen and Maria Elisabeth Tyndeskov beat Austria’s Nadine Strauss and Franziska Friedl 21-18, 21-19. Greece’s Panagiota Karagkouni and Aliki Alexandra Spiliotopoulou ended Italy’s Claudia Puccinelli/Gaia Traballi winning run with a 21-19, 21-17 win.
Silvia Costantini spikes past the block of home star Aleyna Vence
One of the highlights of the day came when home stars Aleyna Vence and Bugra Eryildiz played Italy’s Silvia Costantini and Agata Zuccarelli. The silver medal winners from the inaugural European Snow Volleyball Championships had the crowd behind them all the way from start to end as they were trying to secure Turkey’s first win in the tournament. However, they lost the first set 13-21 before they fought back to lead 10-4 in the second, ultimately securing a 21-16 win. The tiebreak was some kind of an early final – such was the ambiance. It was a very close fight but the Italians silenced the Turkish fans as they celebrated a 15-13 win.
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