Klingers again in the Semifinal in Sofia

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 vs. Portugal and Italy vs. Russia.

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).

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.

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.

Schedule & Results:
Main Draw
Finals:
15:00 Final 1st place – Women
13:00 Final 3rd place – Women

Semifinals:
10:00 Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT) – Agudo/Gabi (VEN)

Quarterfinals:
Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT) – Hladun/Baburina (UKR) 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-11)
Khmil/Lazarenko (UKR) – Kotnik/Lovsin T. (SLO)  2-0 (21-17, 21-18)

Round of 12:
Platre/Patte (FRA) – Seiser/Kindl (AUT)  2-1 (14-21, 21-13, 15-13)
Ertl F./Kratz (AUT) – Hoey/Macneil (CAN) 1-2 (21-12, 19-21, 8-15)
Khmil/Lazarenko (UKR) – Dave/Starikov (ISR) 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 17-15)

Pool Play:
Mehandzhiyski/Kostov (BUL) – Hajos/Streli (HUN) 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 15-13)
Stoyanov M./Gradinarov (BUL) – Pokeršnik D./Bošnjak (SLO) 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-11)
Neshev/Raev (BUL) – Ertl F./Kratz (AUT) 
Grozdanov B./Latunov (BUL) – Seiser/Kindl (AUT)  0-2 (15-21, 16-21)
Hladun/Baburina (UKR) – Kotnik/Lovsin T. (SLO) 0-2 (20-22, 24-26)
Dinova/Koleva (BUL) – Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT)  2-0 (15-21, 19-21)
Wheeler/Quiggle (USA) – Dave/Starikov (ISR) 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-12)

Legieta/Gromadowska (POL) – Dave/Starikov (ISR) 0-2 (19-21, 19-21)
Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT) – Khmil/Lazarenko (UKR) 2-0 (21-17, 21-17)
Dumbauskaite/Grudzinskaite (LTU) – Kotnik/Lovsin T. (SLO) 0-2 (13-21, 17-21)
Seiser/Kindl (AUT) – Hoey/Macneil (CAN) 1-2 (21-13, 16-21, 12-15)
Ranghieri/Visovich (ITA) – Ertl F./Kratz (AUT) 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-13)
Pedrosa/Campos (POR) – Pokeršnik D./Bošnjak (SLO) 2-1 (14-21, 21-17, 15-9)
Cottafava/Dal Corso (ITA) – Hajos/Streli (HUN) 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-11)

Qualification
2nd Round:
Schermerhorn/Davis (USA) – Friedl Fr./Pfeffer E. (AUT) 2-1 (14-21, 21-13, 15-12)
Mewhirter/Roberts (USA) – Hajos/Streli (HUN) 0-2 (20-22, 17-21)
Pokeršnik D./Bošnjak (SLO) – Ranghieri/Viscovich (ITA) 0-2 (25-27, 15-21)

1st Round:
Khmil/Lazarenko (UKR) –  Vasvári, E./Vasvári, Z. (HUN) 2-0 (21-9, 21-11)
They/Breidenbach (ITA) – Freiberger/Fink (AUT) 2-1 (24-22, 30-32, 15-6)
Pinheiro/Castro (POR) – Friedl Fr./Pfeffer E. (AUT) 1-2 (21-15, 17-21, 11-15)
Hajos/Streli (HUN) – Fredericks/Williams (RSA) 2-0 (21-18, 21-19)
Schnetzer/Petutschnig (AUT) – Platre/Patte (FRA) 1-2 (21-16, 18-21, 19-21)
Pokeršnik D./Bošnjak (SLO) – Haitham/Ahmed (OMA) 2-0 (21-15, 21-14)

News:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour – Sofia
ÖVV – Volleyball Austria
OZS – Volleyball Slovenia