Vaduz, Liechtenstein, August 9, 2018 – Two duos from the Netherlands and one each from Greece and Austria were the first to qualify for the women’s quarterfinals at the Vaduz one-star stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour by topping the four pools’ final standings.
Dimitra Manavi and Konstantina Tsopoulou were the first to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. In their first Pool C match, the 11th-seeded Greeks delivered a hard-fought 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) upset of sixth-seeded Paraguayans Erika Sofia Mongelos Bobadilla and Gabriela Filippo. In the clash for the top of the pool standings Manavi and Tsopoulou went on to earn a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) shutout of USA’s Alexandra Wheeler and Lara Dykstra.
Greece’s Dimitra Manavi in action
Wednesday’s qualifiers Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger won Pool D. The 12th-seeded Austrians emerged victorious from a three-set battle with Australia’s Nicole Laird and Brittany Kendall, seeded fifth, on the way to a 2-1 (21-10, 20-22, 15-13) close. The Klingers had to persevere through one more three-setter in the pool final for a 2-1 (21-15, 18-21, 15-19) win over ‘lucky losers’ Kim Huber and Tatjana Greber of Switzerland.
Another team that came into the main draw from the qualifications, Puk Stubbe and Emma Piersma, were the lowest seeded pair to gain direct advancement to the quarterfinals. Joining the main draw ranked 15th in the qualifications, the Dutch duo surprised second-seeded Austrians Eva Freiberger and Valerie Teufl in a 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-11) three-setter, before hammering out a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) shutout of seventh-seeded Czechs Sara Olivova and Tereza Pluharova to top Pool B.
Katja Stam and Julia Wouters upset the top-seeded team for the first place in Pool A. The Dutch pair defeated Switzerland’s Esmee Boebner and Zoe Verge-Depre 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) in the pool winners’ match. Before that, the eighth-seeded duo from the Netherlands cruised to another shutout – 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) against Sweden’s Fanny Lindstrom and Sara Malmstrom.
Women’s main draw action resumes on Friday with the first knockout round, from which the remaining four quarterfinalists will emerge.