Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner started Sunday, the second day of the first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event of the Cancun Hub, facing a serious risk of elimination. Three matches and nearly 12 hours later, the scenario had changed drastically as the Czechs had secured a spot in the quarterfinals in Mexico.
The 26-year-old Perusic and Schweiner started the day under pressure after having lost to Austrians Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz on Saturday. They needed a victory to advance to the elimination round and claimed a hard-fought win against Mexicans Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros, prevailing 2-1 (24-26, 21-19, 22-20).
Their path continued in the Round of 24, where they eliminated Russians Nikita Liamin and Taras Myskiv also in three sets (21-12, 16-21, 15-9) to move forward. In the Round of 16, they secured their only 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) triumph in the tournament so far, against Americans Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.
“Our first match against Austria was a disaster and against the Mexicans, they had their chances and if they had won, it would have been totally fair,” Perusic reacted. “I felt we understood how to handle the wind better in our last two matches and we have to thank our physio too because playing three matches in a day wasn’t easy. It’s amazing to end the day like this after such a rough start.”
Schweiner blocks Crabb during their Round of 16 matchThe Czechs arrived in Cancun on a high after having won the first event of the 2021 season, the 4-star Katara Cup in Doha, in March. According to Perusic, however, every tournament has a different story and they still need to show more now to earn the right to belong in the elite of the sport.
“Honestly, to me, it felt like any momentum we could have built in Doha ended two hours after the end of the tournament,” the defender joked. “We went to a training camp and were back to our usual selves. The truth is I believe that we’re not consistent enough to be considered a top-10 team in the world just yet, but this finish here in Cancun is really important and it helps us a lot in our attempt to qualify for the Olympics.”
In the quarterfinals, the Czechs will face another Russian team in Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov. The two ended the run of Swiss qualifiers Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener in the tournament with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) Round of 16 win.
Sorum and Dalhausser play at the netTop-seeded and world ranking leaders Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway also moved on as they secured their third victory in the event, a 2-1 (21-15, 15-21, 15-12) triumph over American veterans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena. They will now face Brazilian qualifiers Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and Arthur Mariano, who also eliminated an American duo after they upset Jake Gibb and Taylor Crabb 2-0 (22-20, 21-9).
Another matchup will see Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan facing Adrian Carambula/Enrico Rossi. The Qataris advanced by eliminating reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia 2-1 (2-12, 19-21, 15-10) while the Italians moved forward after they ousted Swiss Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer in two sets (21-18, 23-21).
Samoilovs and Smedins will also compete in the quarterfinalsThe fourth and last duel will be an all-European meeting between Austrian qualifiers Ermacora and Pristauz, who defeated Germans Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen 2-0 (21-17, 23-21), and Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, who downed Italian Olympic medallists Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-13).
The final rounds of the first event in Cancun continue to be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World Youtube channel. Subscribe, log in and set reminders to receive notifications when streams begin.
Go to:
Cancun Hub - 1st event
Cancun Hub - 1st event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women
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