Aydin, Turkey, May 17, 2019 – Panagiota Karagkouni and Vasiliki Arvaniti found their form on the opening day of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Aydin 2-Star when they won two from two on Friday to reach the quarterfinals.
The Greek duo, tournament third seeds started with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) win over Ukranian twins Inna and Irina Makhno, and then secured their progress by beating the Czech Republic’s Michala Kvapilová and Michaela Kubickova 2-0 (21-17, 21-11).
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Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Rudykh beat first seeds Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina to join Karagkouni and Arvaniti in the quarterfinals.
Dabizha and Rudykh defeated their fellow Russians 2-0 (26-24, 21-16) having earlier beaten Italy’s Agata Zuccarelli and Gaia Traballi 2-2 (21-13, 13-21, 15-10). Dabizha and Rudykh will go into the round of 12.
Second seeds Japan’s Sayaka Mizoe and Suzuka Hashimoto also won two from two to join Dabizha and Rudykh in the quarterfinals.
The tournament is taking place in Ataturk City Square in the centre of Aydin and it is the second year the city has hosted a 2-Star event. In 2018 Cuba’s Mailen Deliz and Leila Martinez won women’s gold, while Serbia’s Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric topped the men’s podium.