20/04/2019 22:00
Swedish team make history as they advance to World Tour semis in Göteborg
2019 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Göteborg
Göteborg, Sweden, April 20, 2019. Not only is the World Tour event in Göteborg the first one of its kind in Sweden, during Saturday’s quarterfinals the Swedish duo Martin Appelgren/Alexander Annerstedt (pictured) made history as they became the first Swedish men’s team to advance to the semis of a World Tour tournament.
The first quarterfinals for the day on the men’s side were the one between Aliaksandr Dziadkou/Pavel Piatrushka of Belarus and Germany’s Robin Sowa/Lukas Pfretzschner and the centre court match between Russia’s Pavel Shustrov/Alexey Gusev and Swedish duo Martin Appelgren/Alexander Annerstedt.
The Swedish duo played the longest game on Friday, 57 minutes, as they won their second game of the pool play and made it straight to the quarterfinals. On Saturday, Russia’s Shustrov/Gusev were waiting on the other side of the net and they had to deal with a frantic home crowd.
Appelgren/Annerstedt, who represent hosts Göteborg Beach Club, had the crowd going crazy as they won in two straight sets (21-15, 21-18). Therefore, they made their way to the semi-finals as the first Swedish men’s team in history to achieve this feat.
“It was crazy, the crowd truly felt like a third player,” said Alexander Annerstedt after the game. Partner Martin Appelgren agreed. “It is an amazing feeling to play here in Beach Center; it is impossible to describe. The support is unreal and we cannot believe how great the setup of this tournament is,” said Appelgren and added, “We are feeling good and it is a great start to this season for our new team and it really shows that all our training is paying dividends. We are enjoying every point and we will continue to do so,” said Appelgren ahead of Sunday’s semi-final.
They will face top-seeded Aliaksandr Dziadkou/Pavel Piatrushka in the men’s first semi-final starting 11:00 local time.
The other Swedish duo in quarterfinal play, Youth Olympic gold medallists David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig played a tough game against Latvia’s Toms Smedins/Haralds Regza. After losing the first set 19-21, the Swedes lost another tight set (18-21) to bid farewell to the competition. The Latvian duo will be playing against Turkey’s Selcuk Sekerci/Safa Urlu who struck out Japan’s Jumpei Ikeda/Katsuhiro Shiratori on their way to the semi-finals.
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