Recap of Pool A matches at the 2012 CEV Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship Finals
On the opening day of the 2012 CEV Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship Finals, a total of four matches were played in Pool A.
Duos from Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Lithuania came into competition. Czech Republic and Netherlands proved to be better in the pool and finished the opening day with absolute success.
The Beach of Scheveningen in Dutch city Hague hosted the matches and a good number of volleyball enthusiasts showed up.
Dynamic duo of Hajeckova and Klapalova from Czech Republic opened the tournament by taking on Lithuania’s Dumbauskaite-Povilaityte in the first match. The low-ranked LTU tandem was no match for top-seeded Hajeckova-Klapalova. The match continued for only
26 minutes and eventually Czech Republic bagged victory. They posted 2-0 (21-11, 21-13) win over opponents and added first win of the day to their count.
In the meantime, local pairing of Meppelink and van Gestel took on Dubovcova-Nestarcova from Slovakia on another court. In the first set of the match, visiting duo gave a good competition to hosts. There were actually moments in the game when both sides
came really close. The ambitious Slovak pair staged good fight but suffered the setback with a margin of two points, 21-23.
The loss of opening set, therefore, dragged the team under pressure. They committed unforced errors and became irresistible. The hosts took advantage of the nervousness of opponents and cruised past to 21-15 win in the second, which concluded the match.
On the other hand, winning duo of Hajeckova-Klapalova from Czech Republic returned to action in their second match against Slovakia’s Dubovcova-Nestarcova, who were just defeated by hosts in the opening match.
Czech players came out firing and secured the opening set of the match, 21-17. The Slovak team suffered the early setback as it was still in the aftermath of previous loss. Nonetheless, Slovaks mustered up courage and played with new ambition in the second
set. The strategy and formula of perfectly worked out and they upset the pumped-up Czech ladies in the second set, 21-19.
The same brilliance was required in the third-decisive set but Slovak pair lost momentum. Czech Republic bounced back in the game and clinched success in third set. The match ended with 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-9) whereas Hajeckova-Klapalova finished the day
with perfect 2-0 record.
The last match in Pool A featured Meppelink-Van Gestel of Netherlands and Lithuanian Dumbauskaite-Povilaityte. Dutch pair, that already had one victory in hand, did not take long to beat the opponents in less than 30 minutes. LTU performed under-the-par
and ended up with 0-2 (7-21, 17-21) defeat.
Successful teams of the opening day reserved berths in the Single Elimination Round slated for Friday, June 1.
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