16/08/2019 21:00
Home stars secure quarterfinal spot in Knokke-Heist
2019 World Tour 1-Star - Knokke-Heist
Knokke-Heist, Belgium, August 16, 2019. On Friday, the competition at the FIVB World Tour 1-Star event at the Belgian seaside resort of Knokke-Heist started on the same note as it ended on Thursday. The sun tried to come out and shine on the courts and the playing teams were eager to start the action. Many fans tuned in on the livestream to support their favourite players. Moreover, even though the first whistle was blown at 8:30 in the morning, some supporters already found their way to the venue of the event.
The first game of the day was a good old battle of the Low Countries. The Dutch team Emi van Driel/Raisa Schoon played home team Stephanie Van Bree/Amber De Tant. This match ended rather quickly and the Belgians came out very disappointed after their loss. In general, all the first games of the main draw pools ended up in wins by the more experienced teams. As the pool winners advance immediately to the quarterfinals, teams were hungry to gain those victories. The first Belgian team to celebrate a success was Maud Catry/Els Vandesteene, followed by Sarah Cools/Lisa Van de Vonder (pictured above), who won the Belgian national title a week ago. Italian and Dutch teams won their respective opening games at a canter.
As soon as the bells rang to announce noon, the men’s main draw kicked off. The two courts hosted Japanese teams who tried their best against opponents from Belgium and the Czech Republic. A clean 2-0 win over Belgium on court 1, a tough loss on court 2 in a tiebreak against the Czech team was the outcome for the players from the Land of the Rising Sun. Again, teams from Belgium and the Netherlands locked horns and again the next-door boys of The Netherlands seemed too strong. Right after this battle, the brand new Belgian champions took on Sweden. The Vandecaveye brothers, Lander and Louis, needed a tiebreak to secure a first win.
The men’s pool phase is yet to finish, they play Saturday morning to gain a place in the next rounds. In the women’s side of the table, we already have some quarterfinalists: Van Driel/Schoon (NED), Cools/Van de Vonder (BEL), Emma Piersma/Pleun Ypma (NED) and Michelle Valiente/Patricia Caballero of Paraguay.
The women’s Round of 12 features the following duels with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake:
Sofia Starikov/Anita Dave (ISR) vs Chiara They/Arianna Barboni (ITA)
Camilla Nilsson/Sofia Ögren (SWE) vs Andrea Galindo/Claudia Galindo (COL)
Maud Catry/Els Vandesteene (BEL) vs Victoria Palmer/Jessica Grimson (ENG)
Cecilia Køllner Olsen/Sofia Nørager Bisgaard (DEN) vs Stephanie Van Bree/Amber De Tant (BEL)
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