Samsun, Turkey, July 26, 2018 – Teams from four different countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands and South Africa - were victorious in Thursday’s qualifications at the Samsun one-star stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour to progress to the men’s main draw on Friday.
Stefan Boermans and Casper Haanappel, seeded eighth in the qualification bracket, secured the last remaining spot in the main draw. The Dutch pair were the only team to advance after winning two matches on Thursday. In the only game of the first qualification round, Boermans and Haanappel delivered a 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) straight-set win against Japan’s Hidehiko Nishizawa and Toshiharu Kojima. In the second round, the Dutchmen had a much tougher encounter with top-seeded Florian Ertl and Simon Baldauf of Austria, but claimed a 2-1 (23-21, 15-21, 15-13) victory.
Hungary’s Botond Olah and Balazs Benko were the first to secure qualification, by claiming a 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 15-10) win over Turkey’s Emirhan Ulutas and Mecit Eryilmaz.
Botond Olah in reception
Then South Africa’s Leo Williams and Shaien Govender fought back from a set down to win 2-1 (17-21, 21-13, 15-12) against the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sotola and Tomas Pala.
Another Czech duo, Jakub Gala and David Kufa hammered out a 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) shutout of Serbia’s Aleksandar Gavrilov and Milos Milic.