11/09/2014 16:50
Teams from Austria, Russia, and Turkey complete men’s main draw at Baku Masters
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Baku Masters
Baku, Azerbaijan, September 11, 2014. Actions got started on Thursday also for the men’s competition at the Baku Masters – fifth and last stop of this year’s CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship. After the qualification round played on the courts set up at Heyat Rest Area right by the Caspian Sea, the composition of the 16-team main draw starting on Friday is complete. The winners of this tournament – to be crowned on Sunday – will claim a spot for their country in the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship.
Six teams joined the qualification round but only two matches were played as Austria’s Daniel Hupfer/Julian Hörl and Turkey’s Murat Giginoglu/Volkan Gögtepe got a bye and were hence promoted straight to the main draw.
Russia’s Nikita Liamin and Dmitry Barsouk – a silver medallist from the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship together with former partner Igor Kolodinsky – claimed their ticket to the main draw with a 21-16, 21-12 victory over Austria’s Fabian Kandolf and Lukas Peter Stranger. “It was a good game but much stronger opponents are awaiting us now in the main draw. However, after our promotion to the next stage of the competition, our goal is to perform well also in the main draw,” Nikita and Dmitry said.
Another Austrian pair, Michael Murauer and Florian Schnetzer, claimed the last ticket available to the main draw after their hard-fought 2:1 victory (14-21, 21-10, 15-13) against Francisco Tomas and Cesar Menendez of Spain.
The composition of the four preliminary pools of the main draw will be announced during the technical meeting on schedule for Thursday evening.
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