German stars Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch were among the 16 teams that won their opening matches at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star event in Gstaad on Wednesday as the Europeans got an early lead in Pool F.
Ludwig, a Rio 2016 Olympic champion, and Kozuch, an indoor star who played for her country’s national volleyball team, were faced with another German duo, country quota winners Kim Behrens and Sandra Ittlinger, and delivered a 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) win to start the tournament on the right foot.
The pair, who are qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, will be back on the court on Thursday, when they will play for Pool F’s top spot against Ana Patricia Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti. The Brazilians had an even more comfortable start to their tournament in the Swiss Alps as they downed Finland’s Niina Ahtiainen and Riikka Lehtonen in two sets (21-16, 21-14).
"It's always good to start tournaments winning," Ana Patricia said. "We knew what we had to do, were focused on it the entire time and that helped make the match a little bit easier. We have a tough opponent ahead of us now in the Germans and we hope we can win again to top our pool."
Keizer/Meppelink and Schoon/Stam play with the mountains in the backgroundThe first main draw day in Gstaad also saw an all-Dutch match reuniting the country’s Olympic teams of Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink and Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam. Experience played a factor and veterans Keizer and Meppelink came out on top in the three-setter (18-21, 21-14, 15-13).
They will now be faced with the early sensations of the tournament, Spanish qualifiers Daniela Alvarez and Angela Lobato, who upset reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada in straight sets (21-19, 21-19) in Pool E.
"We were just having fun and playing a really good game so we're supper happy," Alvarez said.
Pool A’s final will see the home team of Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre facing Germany’s Chantal Laboureur and Cinja Tillmann while Pool B’s decider will reunite Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Canada’s Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson, two teams who will also face each other in pool play at the Tokyo Olympics.
Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Maria Elisa Antonelli and Germany’s Karla Borger/Julia Sude won their opening matches in Pool C and will also meet on Thursday. So will USA’s Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil and Brazil’s Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas in Pool D.
Pool G’s top spot is between Australia’s Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy and Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka while Russia’s Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina are set to clash with Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli for the first place in Pool H.
Thursday’s schedule in Gstaad for the women features just one match for the conclusion of pool play while the elimination rounds are set to start on Friday.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Gstaad
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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