Baden, Austria. After completion of the FIVB World Tour 1-Star BADEN OPEN last Sunday, elite Beach Volleyball action continues in the outskirts of Vienna with the 2020 edition of the Austrian State Beach Volleyball Championships running from Friday to Sunday at the Weilburgpark in Baden. The top 15 teams from the ranking produced by the Austrian Volleyball Federation (ÖVV) plus the 2020 U21 national champions are eligible to compete later this week in Baden.
The BADEN OPEN winners and defending champions Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller are the favourites of the men’s competition. Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig will not be able to defend their women’s title, since Schützenhöfer is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Therefore, Plesiutschnig will compete again with interim partner Dorina Klinger, after they finished ninth at last week’s BADEN OPEN. Twins Nadine and Teresa Strauss are among the ‘hottest’ contenders for the women’s crown as well.
The championship will run in full compliance with guidelines to prevent any risk of infection from the novel coronavirus. “The highlight of the year is just around the corner, especially with the men’s teams showing such an impressive form. That leaves us to expect a real fight for the Austrian championship title. Due to the depth in quality, it will certainly be an exciting competition from Friday, as everyone on a good day can beat anyone,” said ÖVV President Gernot Leitner addressing the media on Thursday in Baden. “With Kathi Schützenhöfer and Ronja Klinger, two top women are of course missing, but the rest of the teams that we have seen this year are definitely performing well and ready to make a big step forward. It will be difficult to find a clear favourite for the women’s competition. The setting is perfect and thus we can count with a great final season highlight in Austria.”
Defending champions Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller chase a second consecutive gold medal in Baden after triumphing at the World Tour event held last week at the same venue
“We want to win the state championships too. We have seen at the BADEN OPEN how high and close the level of the Austrian teams has become,” Robin Seidl said. “It will therefore be a challenge to defend the title. We will need to play with much consistency in order to achieve our goal. We have grown, and we now have a lot of self-confidence.”
“In Austria there are many good teams with great motivation – we have seen this last week as well. Everyone wants to win; of course, we want that too. With the victory at the BADEN OPEN, we are naturally in the role of favourites but we definitely want to repeat the win,” added partner Philipp Waller.
Lena Plesiutschnig and interim partner Dorina Klinger aim high at the national event in Baden
Lena Plesiutschnig: “Every tournament this year is a highlight because there are very few and at the beginning of the season I did not expect any more tournaments at all. The setup is perfect and I am really looking forward to the event. Of course, it is a shame that I do not start with Kathi after we won gold last year but I am very happy that I could find in Dorina a great interim partner. Our goal is to improve our chemistry and to show our best performance. If we can do that, I think we can go all the way to the top step of the podium.”
Photo Credit: Alexander Felten
