Dutch, Polish, and Swiss pairs advance to Prague Open main draw – Volleyball news
Following the successful completion of Qualification Tournament of 2012 Prague Open men’s beach volleyball tournament on Wednesday, winning duos reserved seats in the Main Draw.
Netherlands entered the Qualification Tournament with one duo, which comprised of Stiekema-Varenhorst. The 9th-seeded Dutch pair worked out an amazing performance and remained undefeated in the qualifying round.
Stiekema and Varenhorst displayed a great partnership and defeated opponents from France, Serbia, and Russia respectively. In the first match, they downed Basset-Ullmann from France in only two sets, 2-0 (21-19, 21-15). Dutch players built their confidence
on the first win and added another victory to their tally in the second match. They were challenged by Serbian Antonic-Markovic in the second match, who received 0-2 (10-21, 15-21) defeat. Stiekema-Varenhorst continued with success in the third match and claimed
win over Yutvalin-Likholetov of Russia, 2-0 (21-14, 21-17). Dutch tandem finished the day with a perfect 3-0 record and advanced to the next stage of the tournament.
Poland 5th-seeded pairing of Kadziola-Szalankiewicz clinched the Main Draw berth in the similar fashion. They appeared in three matches and let none of the competitors to hinder their performance.
Slovakian Kollar and Kollar challenged them in the first round. Polish tandem staged an eye catching action on the net and finished the match in 33 minutes. They posted 21-13 in the first set and defeated the opponent in second set by posting 21-12.
In the second match, Poles came into contest with team from Belarus. Dziadkou-Vishneuski put the Poles to a real test in the tiring three-set match, where score soared up with incredibly close intervals. Nonetheless, the Polish duo came on top with 2-1 (23-21,
21-23, 15-12) victory.
Kadziola-Szalankiewicz were only one step away from Main Draw when they clashed with Barsouk-Hudyakov of Russia. The Russians started out really good in the match. They showed a tactful game and claimed first set, 21-15.
After dropping the opening set, Polish duo hit back aggressively and managed to break the tempo of Russians. Poland grabbed second set win at 21-18 and the beautifully finished the match by claiming third set at 15-9. Poles pulled off success in all three
matches and settled for the Main Draw.
Second-seeded Laciga M.-Weingart from Switzerland also advanced from the qualification tournament of Prague Open into Main Draw.
Laciga M.-Weingart earned a bye in the first round as the opposite team did not show up for the match. In the second fixture, Swiss duo faced off Italian Casadei-Ficosecco, 2-0 (21-14, 21-13). In the last match of qualification tournament, they collided
with Böckermann-Urbatzka of Germany. Swiss pair continued with success and defeated German counterpart in three-set match, 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 19-17).
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