Players in Germany were looking ahead to the three FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournaments that will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from April 16-May 2 as four women’s teams participated in country quota playoffs in Hamburg this week.
Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider and Sandra Ittlinger/Kim Behrens won the rounds which were held on consecutive days between Tuesday and Thursday, and secured their spots in the qualification tournaments of the Mexican events.
Bieneck and Schneider, who won the second and third rounds, will now play in the qualifiers of the second and third tournaments in the Mexican coastal city, which will take place from April 22-26 and from April 28-May 2.
The two players, who are partners since 2017, recovered from a 2-0 (17-21, 12-21) setback to Leonie Kortzinger and Sarah Schneider in the first country quota playoff to win their next three matches.
Their spot in the qualifier of the second tournament was clinched with a 2-1 (25-23, 16-21, 15-13) victory against Ittlinger and Behrens on Wednesday, while their triumph in the third country quota came after a 2-0 (22-20, 25-23) win over Chantal Laboureur and Sarah Schulz on Thursday.
“I’m really happy that we managed to bounce back after such a bad performance on Tuesday,” Schneider said. “We were really frustrated and disappointed, especially because we’ve been training really well, so it was important to get our confidence back. Playing country quotas is super demanding mentally and I think that’s why we couldn’t perform on Tuesday. We knew there was a lot on the line and didn’t handle it well.”
Ittlinger and Behrens, who are partnering for the second time after sharing the courts in 2018, won the first country quota playoff with a 2-1 (19-21, 21-14, 15-13) win over Kortzinger and Schneider on Tuesday and will participate in the qualifiers of the first tournament in Cancun. The duo will also participate in the main draw of the third Cancun event thanks to their level of entry points.
Behrens and Ittlinger are back as partners after a successful 2018 season togetherBrazil and the United States will have their own men’s and women’s country quotas onsite and the playoffs will be held on April 15 for the first event, April 21 for the second and April 27 for the third.
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FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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