The Hague, Netherlands, January 4, 2018 – Kristina and Susanna Thurin had one thing on their minds after they qualified for the main draw at the Dela Beach Open on Wednesday, and that was to contact their airline to change their flights back to Sweden.
Such was their lack of belief that they would progress to pool play in The Hague that the Swedish twins were due to fly home to Stockholm at the end of the day.
However, a 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) win over the Netherlands’ Annemieke Driessen and Ilke Meertens ensured that they would feature in an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour main draw for the first time.
“We booked a plane home tonight and now we need to rebook it because we didn’t think we could make the main draw,” Susanna Thurin said. “It’s a big surprise and going to be super fun.
“We said it would be a big bonus if we stayed and it is a really big bonus.”
The pair did little to hide their delight when they hit the winning point, running around the court in celebration.
They began playing after their elder sister started volleyball before moving to the beach, where they have played together ever since.
In October 2017 they posted a ninth-place finish at the Aalsmeer 1-Star tournament in the Netherlands, and that aside their only other World Tour experience came at the 2015 Porec Major Series, where they were eliminated in qualifying.
The 25-year-olds have been place in Pool 1 where they will face Czech Olympians Marketa Slukova and Barbara Hermannova.
“We’re really happy, it is so surprising,” Kristina Thunin said. “Everything is new so we will try to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”