Siófok, Hungary, August 23, 2018. This year's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-Star/Satellite Siófok started with the qualifiers on Thursday. The two Hungarian female pairs did not succeed to proceed to the Main Draw, but they will be able to support the four men's and four women's teams representing the host country that will start the competition on Friday.
The first day of the Siófok World Tour competition was accompanied by sunshine and overcast later in the day. As usual, the Qualification Round was played in the single-elimination format, meaning teams had to win two matches to proceed into the Main Draw.
From the 12 women's games that took place on Thursday, only one three-set game was played - Hungarians Liza Lutter and Kitti Szombathelyi defeated the Japanese team Hiroko Matsuyama/Marie Wada 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 15-11), but the luck fell short as in the next game they had to admit the dominance of Nina and Tajda Lovsin. The Slovenian sisters recorded a victory in straight sets 2-0 (21-14, 21-10) and will continue their journey in Siófok on Friday.
The first of the surprises of the tournament was the upset of the top-seeded Swedish team Anniken Rådström/Isabelle Påhlsson. They skipped the first round due to an injury of their Bulgarian opponents, but the second round of elimination they faced Slovakian girls Jana Simanicova/Magdalena Kovacikova, who managed a rather easy victory 2-0 (21-14, 21-11).
Siófok’s audience, however, could see much more intense games in the men's competition. The first-ranked Japanese duo Yu Koshikawa/Hiroki Dylan Kurokawa won their opening match, but after that they were defeated by Patrikas Stankevicius/Matas Navickas from Lithuania by a close 2-0 (21-19, 21-19). However, the second-ranked Croatians Josip Pribanic/Filip Silic did not make a mistake as they qualified for the Main Draw without losing a set.
The 1-Star/Satellite Siófok resumes on Friday with the Main Draw matches for both genders. The climax of the tournament will be reached on Sunday, when teams will fight for the medals and distribute the € 10,000 prize money at stake.
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