Uludag, Turkey, March 1, 2018.  The 2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour fourth stop got underway in Uludag on Thursday with a men’s qualification match. On a brightly sunny, but freezing afternoon, in the mountain that Homer referred to as Olympos Misios, Russia’s Vsevolod Bobrikov and Vladislav Mikhalev booked the last available spot in the 16-team main draw.

To advance in the competition, the Russian pair had to cope with the tough resistance of Turkey’s Ufuk Kababurun and Serkan Durasi in a four-set match, which Bobrikov and Mikhalev eventually won fixing the 3-1 (6-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-4) final result in just under 40 minutes of play time.

After winning the first set, the Turkish team kept building momentum with a 5-2 lead in the second, but somehow lost their magic on the snow and lost the set in overtime. The momentum was turned and the Russians stamped the victory winning the next two sets, thus progressing into the main draw.

Switzerland’s Raphael Zurgilgen and Remo Spahr were also part of the qualification bracket, but made the best 16 with a Bye without playing.

Following Thursday evening’s technical meeting, both the men’s and the women’s main draw line-ups will be finalised and the schedule will be set for the games on Friday.

Believed to have been part of the battleground for the ancient Trojan Wars, the 2,543-metre-tall Uludag is bracing for the modern-day Snow Volleyball battles with 16 men’s and 12 women’s pairs from 10 different countries fighting for continental honours.

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