One of Sunday’s women’s semifinals at the second Sofia 1-star stop on FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2021 will feature teams from USA and Ukraine. In the other, pairs from Austria and Venezuela will battle it for a spot in the final. On the men’s side, the semifinals are Italy v Portugal and Italy v Russia.
Alexandra Wheeler and Corinne Quiggle, winners of the previous World Tour event in Sofia last month and number two seeds now, managed a 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 15-9) victory in the all-American quarterfinal against eighth-seeded Sarah Schermerhorn and Aurora Davis.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Khmil and Tetiana Lazarenko, seeded 11th, had a tough first elimination round encounter with Israel’s Anita Dave and Sofia Starikov. They managed to win it after an overtime tie-breaker, 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 17-15). In the quarterfinals, the Ukrainians defeated Slovenia’s Tjasa Kotnik and Tajda Lovsin in straight sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-18).
Top-seeded Norisbeth Isais Agudo and Gabriela Brito of Venezuela extended their winning streak with a 2-0 (21-8, 21-14) quarterfinal blowout of Poland’s Kinga Legieta and Aleksandra Gromadowska, which they mastered in just 29 minutes.
In the longest running women’s match of the day, sixth-seeded Austrians Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger took 54 minutes to shape up a 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-11) comeback victory over Ukraine’s Maryna Hladun and Svitlana Baburina and advance to the semis.
Jakob Windisch and Tobia Marchetto had a long day after starting it off with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) loss to Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos in the Pool C winners match. The third-seeded Italians went on to produce a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) shutout of Bulgaria’s top pair Dimitar Mehandzhiyski and Nikolay Kostov in the first elimination round and a 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-12) comeback win over top-seeded compatriots Andrea Abbiati and Tiziano Andreatta in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals on Sunday, Windisch and Marchetto will have to meet Pedrosa and Campos again. The sixth-seeded Portuguese advanced after a narrow 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 17-15) quarterfinal victory over Canada’s William Hoey and Jake MacNeil.
Another Italian duo, fifth-seeded Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso, went through two tie-breakers on Saturday before securing a spot among the last four. They claimed a 2-1 21-17, 19-21, 15-11) victory over Hungary’s Artur Hajos and Bence Attila Streli in the Pool D final, and a 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 15-11) win over Bulgarian veterans Milen Stoyanov and Miroslav Gradinarov in the quarterfinals.
Petr Bakhnar and Valeriy Samoday also started their day with a three-setter. The second-seeded Russians topped Pool B on a 2-1 (24-22, 19-21, 15-13) victory over Italy’s Alex Ranghieri and Marco Viscovich, before cruising to a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) shutout of France’s Timothee Platre and Liam Patte in the quarters.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Sofia
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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