Austrian Seidl/Waller qualify for the Elite 16 Main Draw in Rosarito, Mexico

Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller qualified into the Main Draw of the first Elite-16 tournament in Rosarito, Mexico, where they will be joining the already qualified Czech team Perusic/Schweiner. In the first phase of the new Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, the Austrian duo will be in the so called “group of death” together with Cherif/Ahmed (QAT), Bryl/Losiak (POL) and Evandro/Álvaro (BRA). They will first go against the Polish duo (1.30am CET), who is coming off a tournament victory in the first Challenge event last week in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

Seidl / Waller, who had skipped the start of the season in Tlaxcala (MEX) due to corona, defeated Kusti Nõlvak / Mart Tiisaar (EST) 28:26, 17:21, 15:12 in the first qualification round and Marco Grimalt / Esteban Grimalt (CHI) 21:19, 21:12 in the second. With 44 points, Seidl is the best scorer and with 8 points the best blocker of the tournament so far. The other men’s Austrian team Alexander Huber/Christoph Dressler, unfortunately lost their first round match against Paolo Nicolai/Samuele Cottafava (ITA) 16:21, 13:21.

Katharina Schützenhöfer / Lena Plesiutschnig won a true battle in the first qualifying round against Elize Maia/Thamela (BRA) with 19:21, 21:11, 16:14. The second round opponent Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann (GER) became the Austrian teams final stop after a loss with 15:21, 22:20, 9:15. “Germany put us under a lot of pressure with their strong serves, which unfortunately we didn’t manage. Despite that, we were able to win the second set. It is a pitty that it wasn’t enough in the end. We will take many positive things from it.” concluded Kathi Schützenhöfer.

Main Draw:
24-Mar 11:00 (19:00 CET)  Perusic/Schweiner (CZE) – Alison/Guto (BRA)
24-Mar 17:30 (01:30 CET)  Seidl/Waller (AUT) – Bryl/Losiak (POL)
24-Mar 19:30 (03:30 CET)  Perusic/Schweiner (CZE) – Boermans/De Groot (NED)
25-Mar 11:00 (19:00 CET)  Seidl/Waller (AUT) – Evandro/Alvaro Filho (BRA)
25-Mar 17:30 (01:30 CET)  Perusic/Schweiner (CZE) – Gaxiola/Rubio (MEX)
25-Mar 20:30 (04:30 CET)  Seidl/Waller (AUT) – Cherif/Ahmed Tijan (QAT)

Qualification:
2nd round:
Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig (AUT) – Muller/Tillmann (GER)  1-2 (15-21, 22-20, 9-15)
Seidl, R./Waller (AUT) – Grimalt M./Grimalt E. (CHI)  2-0 (21-19, 21-12)

1st round:
Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig (AUT) – Elize Maia/Thamela (BRA)  2-1 (19-21, 21-11, 16-14)
Seidl, R./Waller (AUT) – Nolvak/Tiisaar (EST) 2-1 (28-26, 17-21, 15-12)
Huber, A./Dressler (AUT) – Nicolai/Cottafava (ITA)  0-2 (16-21, 13-21)

News:
ÖVV – Volleyball Austria