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21/04/2016

Italy’s Menegatti/Orsi Toth get ahead at Fuzhou Open

 
 Fuzhou, China, April 21, 2016 – Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth from Italy are off to a good start with two opening wins at the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Fuzhou Open.

The Italian pair defeated Japanese qualifiers Ishii Miki and Murakami Megumi in their morning match 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) before meeting Stefanie Schwaiger and Barbara Hansel from Austria in Pool E.

The two teams met one week previously in pool play at the Xiamen Open when the Austrians beat Menegatti/Orsi Toth, 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 16-14). This time saw another battle with both teams having a hard time finding a way around the other. But Italy managed to keep the match within two sets, 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) and the win puts Menegatti/Orsi Toth at the top of their group after day one of pool play.

“I’m feeling very good because we lost in the pool in the last tournament against them so we wanted to play better and I think we were more aggressive and it worked so we’re happy,” said Menegatti.


Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth from Italy

“This morning was easier, even though the Japanese team was a new team for us we have never seen them, but I think we played our match we focussed on our side and it worked,” said Menegatti.

Menegatti/Toth have finished just out of the top four in Fuzhou twice before, they also achieved the same result in the Maceio Open and Rio Grand Slam this year.

“Our goal every time is to reach the final day, we are working for that, but we are thinking game by game and stay focussed on how we can play better.

“We had a lot of good games and some bad games and we are trying to find the consistency, I think we are working hard, we are working well as a team and also individually. We have changed some things in our game and I think we need more time but we on a good way,” said Menegatti.

The Italian pair face Jennifer Kessy and Emily Day from the USA in their final pool match.

Germany’s Labourer/Sude aim to meet expectation

Chantal Labourer and Julia Sude from Germany also earnt two wins on the first day of women’s pool play, first beating Russia’s Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Birlova, 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-12).


Germany’s Chantal Labourer (left) and Julia Sude from Germany

“The game in the morning we were quite happy, Russia is a very good team, we played them last year already a couple of times, we lost also to them so today we could manage some things better and we were happy that we won,” said Labourer.

Labourer/Sude finished just outside the medals in Xiamen, losing the bronze medal match to Kerri Walsh and April Ross (USA) and are hoping to continue their medal quest in Fuzhou.

“We feel good, in the last tournament we were in the semis so we have some expectations here, we want to go to the semis again. It’s a different climate here, it’s very exhausting. The game at eight o’clock in the morning was already very exhausting,” said Sude.

Rebecca Diane Perry and Laura Giombini from Italy were their next opponents in Pool A. Perry/Giombini gave the German pair a hard time in the second set, but Labourer/Sude succeeded with a big hit to end the match, 2-0 (21-14, 26-24).


Germany’s Chantal Labourer (left) and Italy’s Rebecca Diane Perry

“We had many break shots, but we couldn’t finish all of them, the side-out was not so good, but in the end we tried to be patient and finally it worked out our plan that we had. The key was for us to stay patient in the end,” said Labourer.

Labourer/Sude will now face a repeat of the Xiamen Open bronze medal match against Walsh/Ross to decide the winner of Pool A.

The gold medal teams in each gender at the FIVB Fuzhou Open will each split $11,000, the silver $8,000, the bronze $6,000 and fourth place $4,500. The men’s medal matches will be held on Saturday and the women’s medal matches will be held on Sunday.

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