Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic, February 25, 2017. The Czech duo Ludmila Lojkova/Radka Tuckova that had to go through qualification at Špindlerův Mlýn on Friday have continued their sensational winning run on Saturday and became one of the two teams that have already qualified for Sunday’s semi-finals in the women’s competition at the second stop of the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour.

Seeded seventh in the main draw, Lojkova/Tuckova started their day from the first round, where they stormed past compatriots Nela Rostokova/Alzbeta Rybova with a speedy 2-0 (11-1, 11-5) win. In the second round, they had the tough challenge to face the second-seeded Slovakian pair consisting of last year’s winner Silvia Poszmikova and her current partner Zuzana Snopkova. It took Lojkova/Tuckova 32 minutes and three sets to emerge with a surprising 2-1 (11-5, 10-12, 11-7) victory and they were on to the third round. There, another Czech team, Miroslava Liskova/Eliska Novakova, and another tiebreaker match were awaiting them. After a 30-minute battle on the snow, Lojkova/Tuckova once again triumphed with a 2-1 win (11-7, 10-12, 12-10) and saw themselves in the semis. In the last set, they came back from an 8-10 deficit to grab the victory with four consecutive points.

“We feel great that we managed to beat all of our opponents and we are happy. We totally did not expect that we would go this far. In the last set of our last match we were a little bit lucky, but tomorrow we will do all we can and we hope to continue winning,” commented an elated Ludmila Lojkova at the end of the day.

The other duo that has secured a spot in the semi-finals is also from the Czech Republic. Fourth-seeded Natalie Kolderova/Andrea Rybova went through the day without losing a single set and managed to pull off quite an upset in the third round, shutting out their top-seeded compatriots Anna Dostalova/Michaela Knoblochova by 2-0 (12-10, 11-8).

Two more semi-finalists will emerge from the losers’ bracket on Sunday morning. One of them will come from the big centre court clash between Dostalova/Knoblochova and Poszmikova/Snopkova, while two Czech teams – 9th-seeded Marketa Bendikova/Nicole Dostalova and 11th-seeded Miroslava Liskova/Eliska Novakova – will be in contention for the other spot.

On Sunday, women’s snow action at Svatý Petr Valley Station starts at 09:40 local time and the first semi-final is scheduled for 10:30.

Click here for further information