Baden, Austria, June 16, 2018 – The first day of finals at the Baden one-star event on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour brought gold for Germany. Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann were victorious against home stars Katharina Schuetzenhoefer and Lena Plesiutschnig in the women’s final. The bronze went to Norwegians Emilie Olimstad and Janne Pedersen, who won 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) against Latvians Marta Ozolina and Agnese Caica in the match for third place.
A large crowd watched the women’s finale featuring Mersmann and Tillmann and local favourites Schuetzenhefer and Plesiutschnig. The Austrians were aggressive and motivated, clearly going for the win. However, they could not handle the German determination. In both the first and the second sets, the Germans were clearly in the lead and won the match 2-0 (21-17, 21-16).
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“We were on top of our game today and were an amazing team,” Mersmann said.
“They were clearly better, which just leaves me to congratulate them. We are happy about the silver,” Schuetzenhoefer commented.
Norway’s Emilie Olimstad and Janne Pedersen and Latvia’s Marta Ozolina and Agnese Caica played for the bronze. Olimstad’s defence was strong and the Norwegians took and held the lead in the first set with consistent side-outs. The second set was quite close but in the end, the Norwegians came out on top.
In the semis, Schuetzenhoefer and Plesiutschnig played Ozolina and Caica winning the first set 21-15. The spectacular second set ended at 21-13 to Austria. Olimstad and Pedersen then lost 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) to Mersmann and Tillmann, paving the way for an Austria vs. Germany final.
The women’s podium at Baden
On the men’s side, three Austrian and one Norwegian pair qualified for Sunday’s semifinals.
In the first quarterfinal, Tobias Winter and Julian Hoerl of Austria won against Norwegians Andreas Takvam and Christian Sandlie Sorum by 2-1 (21-15, 11-21, 15-10).
Norway’s Anders Berntsen Mol and Bjarne Nikolai Huus played against Brazil’s Marcio Guadie Ley and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci. The Norwegians easily made it to the semis with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-11) victory.
Austria’s Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst also made it to the semifinals by winning 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-11) against the Chinese team Peng Gao and Yang Li.
Finally, Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz, also of Austria, played Hasan Huseyin Mermer and Safa Urlu of Turkey and advanced to the semis after a 2-0 (21-11, 21-19) victory.
“Even better than winning is winning whilst this amazing audience is rooting for us,” Pristauz said. “A few years ago, I was a side court manager assistant and now I am playing with the big boys.”
In the men’s semifinals on Sunday, Mol and Huus will face Doppler and Horst at 12.00CET. After that, at 13.00CET, the all-Austrian clash between Winter and Hoerl and Ermacora and Pristauz will begin.