Samsun, Turkey, July 27, 2018 – Two Czech pairs joined the four that had already secured their spots in the men’s quarterfinals at the one-star FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Samsum event. Duos from Iran and Austria were the other two teams that won their pools on the Turkish Black Sea coast.
Eighth-seeded Jindrich Weiss and Donovan Dzavoronok of the Czech Republic upset the top seeds of the tournament, Iran’s Rahman Raoufi and Abolhamed Mirzaali in the Pool A winners’ match. After cruising to a speedy 2-0 (21-11, 21-8) win over Turkey’s Dundar Yildirim and Yasin Baysal in their first match in the pool and persevering through a tough first set against the Iranians, the Czechs went on to shape up the 2-0 (23-21, 21-12) surprise. “I am so happy that we won our two matches in the pool stage and qualified for the quarterfinals here in Samsun,” Weiss said.
Donovan Dzavoronok during his team’s clash with Iran
It was an all-Czech battle for the first place in Pool C. After disposing of sixth-seeded Lithuanians Artur Vasiljev and Marius Malinauskas with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) win, the 11th-seeded Jakub Gala and David Kufa delivered one more upset – 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) over third-seeded compatriots Marcel Myslivecek and Martin Pihera.
Second-seeded Iranians Bahman Salemiinjehboroun and Arash Vakili did not allow any surprises in their Pool B. They topped the final standings after two straight-set victories – 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) over South Africa’s Leo Williams and Shaien Govender and 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) over Serbia’s Djordje Klasnic and Marko Plavsic.
Over-the-net battle between Salemi and Plavsic
In Pool D, Austria’s Thomas Kunert and Peter Eglseer managed two straight-set victories as well, but with extended sets in each of them. First, the fifth-seeded team in the main draw mastered a 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) win over Hungary’s Botond Olah and Balazs Benko. Then, they emerged with a 2-0 (21-13, 27-25) victory from the clash with the home favourites, fourth-seeded Turks Ali Berke Sagir and Ali Cebeci. “We played a good match against the Turkish team and we are especially happy that we won the match in front of so many Turkish fans,” Kunert commented.
The four pool winners will learn who their quarterfinal opponents are after the first elimination round, which will see the teams placed second or third in the pool standings battle it out to stay in contention. Duos from Czechia, Hungary, Iran, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Serbia, South Africa and Turkey make up the line-up of candidates.