27/07/2018 23:50
Czech teams stand out on opening day of Samsun Open Main Draw
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Samsun Open
Samsun, Turkey, July 27, 2018. The 1-Star Samsun Open continued on Friday with the start of the Main Draw. Only one women’s match needed three sets to determine its eventual winners. The Czech Republic stood out in the women’s competition with their teams claiming three victories in as many matches. Only two of the men’s matches finished in the third set. Teams from Austria, Czech Republic and Iran qualified for the quarterfinals, as another eight remain in contention and will be playing the Round of 12 on Saturday.
Women
No.1 seeded Eva Freiberger/Valerie Teufl of Austria claimed an easy 2-0 victory in Pool A against home rookies Belinay Sari/Basak Döner. Czech Republic’s Nicole Dostalova/Anna Komarkova were just as dominant as they beat Eszter Lutter/Szandra Szombathelyi (HUN) 2-0 as well. “We are happy to win our first match of the tournament. We showed a good performance today,” Teufl said.
Karolina Rehackova/Marie-Sara Stochlova (CZE) and Julia Wouters/Pleun Ypma (NED) were the eventual winners of the matches contested in Pool B. “It was a tough game. There were many ups and downs in our game. Therefore, we are happy that we won in the end,” Wouters said following a 2-1 victory over Slovenia’s Nina Lovsin and Tjasa Kotnik.
Tereza Pluharova and Sara Olivova were one of three Czech teams to emerge victorious from their matches on Friday
In Pool C, Denmark’s Simone Marie Okholm Hansen/Helle Sondergård stormed to a comprehensive 21-6, 21-11 victory over Simone Sittig/Luciana Pierangeli of South Africa while Czech team Sara Olivova/Tereza Pluharova needed only two sets to beat Turkey’s Ebru Karayilan/Burcu Atasoy 21-15, 21-12.
After making it through the qualification round on Thursday, Italy’s Carolina Ferraris/Francesca Michieletto continued their winning streak defeating Turkey’s Müge Ocakci/Merve Celebi 2-0 in the opening game of Pool D. On the other hand, Camilla Nilsson/Sofia Ögren from Sweden beat Poland’s Marta Lodej/Marta Duda 22-20, 21-18.
“Every time it is difficult to play in front of the home team and fans. At the beginning of the match, we were a bit nervous but we won the first set 24-22. In the second, we played very well and showed a good performance, especially in defence, winning the game and continuing our winning streak,” said Ferraris.
Men
Czech Republic’s Jindrich Weiss/Donovan Dzavoronok claimed two consecutive 2-0 wins in their pool to qualify for the quarterfinals. They first beat the home team Dundar Yildirim/Yasin Baysal 21-11, 21-8 and after that Iran’s Rahman Raoufi/Abolhamed Mirzaali (23-21, 21-12). “I am so happy that we won our two matches in the pool stage and qualified for the quarterfinals here in Samsun,” Weiss said.
In Pool B, Bahman Salemiinjehboroun/Arash Vakili (IRI) won their opening match against Leo Williams/Shaien Govender from South Africa with 2-0 (21-15, 21-14). Later in the day, Iran’s duo easily claimed their match against Serbia’s Djordje Klasnic/Marko Plavsic 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) as well to progress to the quarterfinals while Williams/Govender finished second in the pool to move on to the Round of 12.
Ali Berke Sagir (TUR) looking disappointed after home loss
Czech teams were the dominant forces in Pool C. Jakub Gala/David Kufa won the derby with Marcel Myslivecek/Martin Pihera to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.
In Pool D, Thomas Kunert/Peter Eglseer (AUT) had impressive wins against Hungary’s Botond Olah/Balazs Benko and home stars Ali Berke Sagir/Ali Cebeci. “We played a good match against the Turkish team and we are especially happy that we won the match in front of so many Turkish fans,” Kunert commented.
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