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19/04/2021

Laboureur and Tillmann continue dream debut in Cancun

Being a new team on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour certainly has its pros and cons. Chantal Laboureur and Cinja Tillmann have only experimented with the good side of it so far as the Germans advanced to the quarterfinals of the first of the three 4-star events held at the Cancun Hub on Sunday.

Partners since the beginning of the year, when the 31-year-old Laboureur ended her two-year union with Sandra Ittlinger, the Germans are playing in their first tournament together in Mexico this week and have already secured their spot among the top eight teams of the event.

Laboureur and Tillmann have won three of their first four matches together and their only setback came in a three-setter against reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes in pool play. In the Round of 16, the Germans upset Swiss Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli, who were semifinalists at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, and won 2-1 (16-21, 23-21, 16-14) to continue progressing in the tournament.

“Things are going perfectly so far,” Laboureur commented. “I think the windy conditions have been helping us a lot. I like how our skills match up on the court. We’re both very athletic, we can play super fast and we’re trying to make it an advantage.”

Laboureur and Sude are working hard at the net to put pressure on their opponents

To be able to play together, the 1.79m-tall Laboureur and the 1.74m-tall Tillmann, who are both originally defenders, had to make adjustments to their games. They’ve been splitting the team’s blocking duties and have been using other strategies to maximise their skills and minimise their size disadvantage.

“Neither of us is tall enough to play blocking full-time, so we have to split duties. And here, with the tournament being played in very warm weather, that works out well, because it helps us save energy,” the 29-year-old Tillmann added. “We need to serve well the entire time and try to play smartly, use the wind to our favour and create challenges for our opponents.”

In Monday’s quarterfinals, the Germans will face Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who eliminated world ranking leaders April Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States with a 2-0 (29-27, 21-15) victory. The Australians won the last World Tour event held in Mexico, a 4-star tournament in Chetumal, in November 2019.

Clancy (in black) faces Ross at the net during their meeting in the Round of 16

The tournament in Cancun will also feature an all-Canadian quarterfinal matchup reuniting Pavan and Humana-Paredes and Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson, who both eliminated German duos in the Round of 16. The world champions topped Julia Sude and Karla Borger 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-12) while the winners of the 2018 Chetumal Open ousted Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch also in three sets (20-22, 21-15, 22-20).

Brazil will also see two teams clashing for a spot in the semifinals. While Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima advanced with a 2-1 (21-14, 21-15-21, 15-12) win over Greeks Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni, Rebecca Cavalcanti and Ana Patricia Ramos moved forward after they eliminated Cubans Leila Martinez and Maylen Deliz also in three sets (21-18, 21-19, 15-10).

Taiana spikes against Karagkouni's block as the Brazilians advance to the quarterfinals

Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa will be Brazil’s third team in the quarterfinals as the 2018 FIVB World Tour Finals winners stopped Cubans Lidiannis ‘Lidy’ Echeverria and Yanisleidis Sanchez with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) triumph. Their opponents will be Russians Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina, who prevailed over Americans Emily Stockman and Kelley Kolinske also in two sets (21-15, 21-16).

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.