Aydin, Turkey, May 18, 2019 – Dunja Gerson and Laura Caluori reached their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour semifinals at the Aydin 2-Star on Saturday.
The Swiss pair beat Russian qualifiers Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Rudykh 2-0 (21-16, 21-18). Their previous best was a quarterfinal finish at the Jinjiang 2-Star in 2018.
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Gerson and Caluori will now meet Diana Lunina and Maryna Samoday on Sunday after the Ukrainians defeated compatriots Inna and Irina Makhno 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 15-9).
In the other semifinal Russia’s Maria Voronina and Mariia Bocharova will face Canada’s Taylor Pischke and Sophie Bukovec.
Voronina and Bocharova knocked out Greece’s Panagiota Karagkouni and Vasiliki Arvaniti with a 2-1 (12-21, 23-21, 15-9) victory, while Pischke and Bukovec enjoyed a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) over Japan’s Sayaka Mizoe and Suzuka Hashimoto.
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.