The Main Draw of the MEVZA Beach Volleyball Tour Bibinje started on Thursday after Wednesday’s qualification matches, with 16 women’s and 16 men’s teams beginning their battle for a place in the knockout rounds.
In the women’s competition, all four pools opened with one match each. In Pool A, top-seeded Israelis Gonzalez/Danenberg started strongly with a 2-0 (21-11, 21-13) victory over Klerf/Delcourt of Luxembourg, while Czech duo Novotna/Mrkvickova defeated fellow Israelis Maor/Rosner 2-0 (21-14, 21-12).
Pool B featured two Hungarian teams. Honti-Majoros/Posztos-Szabo lived up to their seeding with a convincing 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) win against Croatia’s Cosic/Bosnar Zelenika, while compatriots Honti-Majoros/Pádár also opened with a straight-sets victory, defeating Hammarberg/Bisanz of Austria 2-0 (21-17, 21-17).
In Pool C, Czech qualifiers Rudicka/Hrubanova opened their campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-14, 18-21, 18-16) victory over Slovenia’s Kotnik/Puckmeister. In the second match of the pool, Slovak qualifiers Reginova/Harmanova defeated Hungary’s Gubik/Kiss-Bertók in straight sets, 2-0 (22-20, 21-18).
Pool D featured a three-set battle in which Israel’s Dave/Lavie came back to beat Austrian qualifiers Pfau/Elsner 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-6). Slovakia’s Nemec Elekova/Bundzelova also started strongly, defeating Croatia’s Sos/Biuk 2-0 (21-17, 21-17).
The men’s tournament also got underway with several strong performances from the seeded teams. In Pool A, Czech favourites Semerad/Stocek defeated Cyprus’ Gurdis/Durunda 2-0 (21-9, 21-12), while Hershko/Lanciano of Israel needed three sets to overcome Hungarian qualifiers Borbely/Bogancs 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-10).
Austria’s Sponer/Petutschnig started confidently in Pool B, beating Croatia’s Skori? Budimir/Misura 2-0 (21-16, 21-16). The longest match of the day came in the same pool, where Slovenian qualifiers Renko/Pokersnik defeated Czech pair Vala/Dostal 2-1 (36-38, 21-18, 18-16) after an extraordinary opening set.
In Pool C, Luxembourg’s Weber/Hilbert recorded a 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) win against Croatia’s Zelenika/Pribanic, while Austria’s Klemen/Holzinger defeated Czech qualifiers Toufar/Pavlusek 2-0 (21-14, 21-16).
Pool D saw Croatian duo Devald/Repek beat Slovak qualifiers Petro/Marcok 2-0 (21-17, 21-12), while Czech qualifiers Kulis/Schinko came back from a set down to defeat Slovenia’s Mugerli/Jevsnik 2-1 (12-21, 21-16, 15-13).
With the opening matches completed, the remaining pool-stage fixtures will continue on Friday before the tournament moves into the knockout round on Saturday.
Friday’s Main Draw Schedule
Women
08:30 – Novotna/Mrkvi?kova (CZE) vs Gonzalez/Danenberg (ISR)
10:00 – Honti-Majoros/Posztós-Szabó (HUN) vs Honti-Majoros/Pádár (HUN)
13:00 – Rudicka/Hrubanová (CZE) vs Reginova/Harmanova (SVK)
08:30 – Nemec Elekova/Bundzelova (SVK) vs Dave/Lavie (ISR)
14:30 – Cosi?/Bosnar Zelenika (CRO) vs Hammarberg/Bisanz (AUT)
16:00 – Kotnik/Puckmeister (SLO) vs Gubik/Kiss-Bertók (HUN)
16:00 – Šoš/Biuk (CRO) vs Pfau/Elsner (AUT)
14:30 – Klerf/Delcourt (LUX) vs Maor/Rosner (ISR)
Men
11:30 – Semerad/Stocek (CZE) vs Hershko/Lanciano (ISR)
11:30 – Sponer/Petutschnig (AUT) vs Renko/Pokeršnik (SLO)
13:00 – Weber/Hilbert (LUX) vs Klemen/Holzinger (AUT)
13:00 – Devald/Repek (CRO) vs Kulis/Schinko (CZE)
17:30 – Gurdis/Durunda (CYP) vs Borbély/Bogáncs (HUN)
17:30 – Škori? Budimir/Mišura (CRO) vs Vala/Dostal (CZE)
19:00 – Zelenika/Pribani? (CRO) vs Toufar/Pavlusek (CZE)
19:00 – Petro/Marcok (SVK) vs Mugerli/Jevšnik (SLO)
