Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 3, 2018 – Pairs from Austria, the Czech Republic, Russia and Serbia emerged from Friday’s qualifications with tickets to the men’s main draw at the Ljubljana one-star stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour on Saturday.
Top-seeded Jindrich Weiss and Martin Tichy cruised to a 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) win over Slovenian wild cards Jure Peter Bedrac and Iztok Novak in the first qualification round. In the second, the Czech pair faced tougher opposition from Croatia’s Josip Pribanic and Filip Silic, but managed to come back from a set down on the way to a 2-1 (16-21, 23-21, 15-8) victory.
Second-seeded Austrians Thomas Kunert and Peter Eglseer managed two emphatic straight-setters – 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) against Slovenia’s Urh Port and Denis Robida and 2-0 (21-11, 21-16) against Norway’s Christian Helland and Jorn Olav Gamlemoen.
"We’re happy that we made it to the main draw after two tough games,” Thomas Kunert said. “This is our third tournament together, so we still need some time to adjust and deliver our best performance.”
“We always look from one game to the next. Each game we play brings improvement, so I hope we can also improve our performance tomorrow in the main draw. It depends as well on the conditions. It is really hot and the sand is deep so it is difficult to play for everyone,” Peter Eglseer added.
Valeriy Samoday and Taras Myskiv mastered two speedy 29-minute victories. The fifth-seeded Russians started off with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) win over the Czech Republic’s Jakub Gala and Martin Sramek and followed up with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) shutout of fourth-seeded Germans Eric Stadie and Robin Sowa.
Djordje Klasnic and Marko Plavsic of Serbia did not drop a set along the way to the main draw either. The third-seeded duo in the qualification bracket mastered a 2-0 (21-11, 21-13) victory over Croatia’s Kresimir Karaula and Marko Simac in the first round and a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) win over Hungary’s Botond Olah and Balazs Benko.