Nine men’s and three women’s duos from Europe celebrate winning starts
Published 01:24, 08 Nov 2023
European men’s and women’s pairs dominated the standings after the first day of play in the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships main draw in Roi-Et, Thailand.
With 16 matches completed of a scheduled 48 men’s pool play matches, favourites Arthur Canet & Teo Rotar of France and Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger of Austria displayed top form in their respective matches on Wednesday.
The world-ranked French duo defeated Germany’s Momme Lorenz & Hennes George Nissen with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) scoreline, while their continental rivals from Austria, Hammarberg & Berger, outplayed Brazil’s Pedro Augusto Sousa De Oliveira & Henrique Camboim de Barros 2-0 (21-11, 21-12).
Seven other European pairs won their match in straight-set fashion, including Ukraine’s Vitalii Savvin & Anton Moiseiev, Belgium’s Joppe Van Langendonck & Kyan Vercauteren, Sweden’s Elmer Andersson & Jacob Hölting Nilsson, Italy’s Theo Hanni & Michael Burgmann, Czechia’s Krystof Jan Oliva & David Westphal, Switzerland’s Linus Deecke & Julian Friedli, and Poland’s Filip Lejawa & Szymon Beta.
Other men’s main draw winners were Lebanon’s Hadi El Chabib & Omar Abi Karam, Paraguay’s
Angel Palacios & Camilo Vargas, Australia’s Ben Hood & D’Artagnan Potts, Argentina’s Gonzalez & Inostroza, Chile’s Thomas Acevedo & Maximiliano Cordova de Halleux, USA’s Thomas Hurst Gage Basey, and China’s Zhou Yongji & Xu Zongqi.
In the women’s tournament, three European duo and one Asian tandem claimed double wins.
Hungary’s Zsófi Vasvári & Stefánia Flóra Kun won over the home team of Salinda Mungkhon & Jidapa Bunongkhun and Cayman Islands’ Joanna Robinson & Anjia Delapenha, Finland’s Sara Sinisalo & Anniina Muukka defeated Ukraine’s Yeva Serdiuk & Kateryna Udovenko and Egypt’s Nada Hamdy Samir Mahmoud Hamdy & Habiba Mostafa, and Austria’s Magdalena Rabitsch & Anja Trailovic beat Leona Kernen & Annique Niederhauser and Argentina’s Maia Najul Rosas & Morena Marisa Abdala.
China’s Yan Xu & Zhou Mingli outclassed Bolivia’s Maria Isabel Chacon Espinoza & Maria Jose Galindo Quiroga and Latvia’s Līva Ēbere & Deniela Konstantinova.
Six pairs had split win and loss in their double header, including M. Salinda/B. Jidapa and Nada/Habiba, along with teams of Guam, Netherlands, Latvia, Ukraine and Czechia.
Australia, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Paraguay USA, Poland, Estonia teams and the second Thai pair logged one victory on Wednesday and will play their next match on Thursday.
