Alanya, Turkey, May 31, 2018 – The one-star double-gender event in Alanya on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour started on Thursday in Turkey with the qualification round where four women’s and four men’s teams secured their spots in the main draw.
The weather conditions were ideal and challenging at the same time with temperatures up to 35 °C and a mild breeze.
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The women were the first ones to take to the court with six matches scheduled for the first round of qualifications. Daria Rudykh and Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya of Russia beat Sweden’s Johanna Wikberg and Felicia Granberg 2-1 (21-13, 15-21, 15-9), while Poland’s Marta Lodej and Marta Duda recorded a 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) victory over Cecilie Kollner Olsen and Signe Zibrantdsen Haaning of Denmark. These same two teams beat opponents from Russia and Hungary in the second round of qualifications to secure their qualification for the main draw.
Austria’s Ronja Klinger and Valerie Teufl stamped a 2-0 (21-9, 21-8) victory in their match-up with Turkey’s rookies Aysun Suna Alan and Aysu Ceylan. The Austrian team progressed to the main draw after their 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-7) win in the match with Leonie Koertzinger and Anika Krebs of Germany. Dutchwomen Flore Gravesteijn and Mexime van Driel were the last qualifiers for the main draw following their speedy 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) win over Gabriela Coelho and Vanessa Paquete of Portugal.
The men’s qualifiers started later in the day. Marcel Myslivecek and Martin Pihera of the Czech Republic beat Italy’s Matteo Galli and Filippo Boesso 2-0 (21-12, 21-12) to qualify for the main draw.
Denmark’s Mads Rosager and Martin Trans Hansen, despite losing the first set of their match with Sven Vismans and Jannes van der Ham of the Netherlands, fought hard to claim the second and third sets on the way to a 2-1 (19-21, 23-21, 22-20) win and a ticket to the main draw.
England’s Luis Bello and Joaquin Bello and Denmark’s Kristoffer Abell and Daniel Thomsen were the last two teams to progress to the main draw. The young Englishmen beat Ludvig Simonsson and Alexander Herrmann of Sweden 2-1 (15-21, 21-19, 15-12), coming back from a 10-12 deficit in the second set. Abell and Thomsen played two quick sets with Abdelrahman Fayed and Ahmed Famy Farag of Egypt, emerging victorious with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-14) win in 37 minutes only.
“We are very happy with this victory and the expectations are very high, but we need to enjoy being in the main draw and play good matches,” Luis Bello said.