Böckermann-Urbatzka earns qualification via German Country Quota Playoffs – Volleyball news
The 2012 Prague Open men’s beach volleyball tournament kicked off in Czech Republic on Tuesday, May 22.
The opening day of the tournament featured the Country Quota Playoffs. Tandems from Brazil, Germany, and Czech Republic contested their skills to clinch the qualification berths. In the German CQs, duo of Markus Böckermann and Mischa Urbatzka came on top.
They finished the first stage of the tournament with 2-0 record and clawed their way to the Qualification Tournament, which is scheduled to be played on Wednesday.
Germany entered the CQs with a total of four duos. Böckermann-Urbatzka took on Backhaus-Westphal in the first fixture of the day. The former duo displayed good digging and diving on the court and secured opening frame with 4-points, 21-17.
In the next set, Backhaus-Westphal hit back aggressively and tried to cover the deficit. They grasped the game plan of their compatriots and threw the ball in rare gaps and corners. Meanwhile, Böckermann-Urbatzka made few reception errors, which further
helped the opposite team to take the advantage. Backhaus-Westphal levelled the game score by winning second set (21-15) and forced third set on the rivals.
In the tie-breaker third set, Böckermann-Urbatzka retook the lead and did not allow the opponents to come up. Eventually, they posted 15-10 on board and claimed victory with 2-1 ratio.
The second fixture of the day featured Kaczmarek-Walkenhorst and Dollinger, A.-Stiel. In the first frame of the match, scoring was tight. Walkenhorst produced long cross court shots but overhand digs of Dollinger saved many crucial points. The game of hit
‘n’ run concluded as Dollinger, A.-Stiel stamped 21-19.
After dropping the first set, Kaczmarek-Walkenhorst put up extra effort to win the next frame. It was a ‘do or die’ situation for them. However, with the help of better attack and defence they managed to bring the game to an even point. They claimed second
set by sending 21-14 on board and created the tie, 1-1.
Third set was another thriller as both sides tried to take the decisive set. Situation remained undecided until the ending moments. Eventually, Kaczmarek-Walkenhorst got a perfect kill to put an end to the affair. They closed third set at 15-13 and clinched
success in the match.
Winner of previous two matches collided in the third match, which was the real test of their skills and temperament. Luck accompanied Böckermann-Urbatzka as they downed Kaczmarek-Walkenhorst by posting 2-1 win (25-23, 15-21, 15-9) in 50 minutes.
The duo of Böckermann and Urbatzka remained undefeated in the Country Quota Playoffs and advanced to the Qualification Tournament, while rest of the German teams got disqualified.
Urbatzka revealed in his post-match comments, “It was a tough game, especially with this weather. We did not go to Brazil or China and this was our first match in such hot and humid conditions. We are glad we made it after all, with this many German teams
here.”
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