Austria and Hungary secure two Main Draw spots each in Ljubljana

Ljubljana, Slovenia. Teams from Austria and Hungary were the standout performers on the first day of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-Star event in Ljubljana, the first international Volleyball competition after the long break imposed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Italy’s Chiara They and Dalila Varrassi justified their role of qualification pre-favourites by beating their compatriots Valentina Cali/Eleonora Annibalini. The second team progressing to the Main Draw were Hungary’s Eszter and Zsofia Vasvari (pictured) who edged their sparring partners Juraszik/Villam. “We usually practice together with Patricia and Lilla so we know each other very well and that is why our matches are always hard to play. Sometimes they win, sometimes we do. The first set was fantastic, as we started with a five-point lead. After taking the first set, in the second one we felt extremely tired, because of the hot weather. We are very happy that we qualified for the Main Draw for the first time,” commented Zsofia Vasvari. 

Swiss duo Kim Huber/Joelle Rohrer stayed undefeated after two matches as well. “It was a tough game, especially since it was so hot! It is so nice to play again and to play here in Ljubljana is so cool; it is a pleasure to be here. And it is really nice to play against opponents who are not from Switzerland,” commented Rohrer after a solid win against Slovenia’s vice-champions Lana Žužek/Zala Špoljaric. The match between Latvia’s Marta Ozolina/Luize Skrastina and Hungary’s Panna Györi/Dorottya Szabó decided the last team to proceed to the Main Draw. Györi/Szabó proved to be the better side this time.

Joelle Rohrer (SUI) was among the players to qualify for the Main Draw in Ljubljana 

In the men’s competition, Rudy Schneider/Simon Pfretzschner earned their spot in tomorrow’s Main Draw after delivering two solid performances. The German duo upset the first-seeded team of the qualification tournament, Italy’s Alex Ranghieri/Daniele Sablone in the second match, while Austria’s Moritz Fabian Kindl/Mathias Seiser claimed the last spot in tomorrow’s main draw. “Finally, after three years we managed to qualify for the Main Draw. It was a crazy game, as the temperatures were a way too high for me. But I am glad that we got into the Main Draw and I hope for many more games,” Kindl was happy at the end of an exhausting day in Crnuce. 

Maximilian Trummer (pictured) and partner Felix Friedl were one of two Austrian teams to progress to the Main Draw

 Maximilian Trummer admitted that he and his partner Felix Friedl struggled throughout their match: “We played against a Swiss team. We really were not doing well in reception and setting in the first quarter of both sets, so we had a lot of trouble to find the way back to our usual level of performance. In the end, we managed to win both sets and we are happy that we secured ourselves a spot in the Main Draw.” 

Italy’s Tobia Marchetto/Alberto Di Silvestre are the fourth team Slovenian Beach Volleyball fans will be able to follow in ?rnu?e on Friday. The Main Draw of the tournament will start at 9 am with the men’s pool phase matches at Sports Park Ludus.

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Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball
OZS – Volleyball Federation of Slovenia
FIVB – Volleyball World