Ladies first as the 2023 EuroBeachVolley begins on Wednesday
Preview
After two years, the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley is back in Vienna and during five days, from Wednesday to Sunday, the best European beach volleyball teams will battle for supremacy in the continent at the Austrian capital.
This year’s edition of the tournament will have a significantly higher impact in the Austrian capital than the one of two years ago as the tournament will be entirely held at the iconic Danube Island, allowing for more fans to follow the action closely from August 2-6.
With 32 teams in each gender, the EuroBeachVolley will reunite the absolute elite of the continent, with three Olympic champions, five world champions, 16 European champions, ten Olympic medalists and 32 Olympians featuring among the 128 players from 19 countries that will compete in the event this year.
The women will be the first to get on the court, with pool play going on at the Danube Island from 11:00 to 19:00 on Wednesday. As many as 32 matches will be held on the first day of the tournament and 24 of the 32 women’s duos that start the day will end it with a spot in the elimination rounds guaranteed.
Some exciting matches are set to take place in the first round of pool play, starting with the all-German duel between Karla Borger, a bronze medalist in the EuroBeachVolley in 2016 and 2021, and Sandra Ittlinger and compatriots Leonie Körtzinger and Lea Kunst at 11:00 on court five.
Another German team, the one of 2022 FIVB World Championship bronze medalists Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Müller, will be the first one to play on the center court, at 12:00, facing the Austrian duo of Katharina Schützenhöfer and Franziska Friedl and their loud home fans.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalists Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré will play next on the center court, facing Dutch Emma Piersma and Mexime van Driel at 13:00. One hour later, reigning European champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova will begin their title defense on court three against Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Baieva.
The top Austrian women’s team entering the event, the Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja will make their debut at 14:00, playing on the center court against Swiss up-and-comers Menia Bentele and Anna Lutz.
Dorina, 26, and Ronja, 23, are having a very successful international season in 2023, having advanced from the qualifier in five Beach Pro Tour Challenge events and made a semifinal appearance in the tournament held in La Paz. The good results feed their hopes of representing their country well at home and getting a good finish in front of their home fans.
Ronja Klinger“I don’t think we were anywhere near the level we are at now in the previous events we played in Vienna. We are really well-prepared to show our best volleyball and are going to give everything we have on the court for our home crowd. I think a realistic goal for us based on our last results would be a top-ten finish. But with the crowd on our side, anything is possible.”
Austrian Beach Volleyball Player
Playing in front of their fans, the Klingers expect to get better luck than in the previous tournaments held in their home city as they fell in the qualifiers of the World Tour events they played in Vienna in 2018 and 2019 and lost both their pool matches in the 2021 EuroBeachVolley.
Dorina Klinger“The two times we played at the Danube Island before, we only got to play on the side courts, so we never really experienced the crazy atmosphere of the center court there. We were there at those tournaments and got to feel the atmosphere from the stands, but now we want to feel it as players. We can’t wait to see the stands packed behind us, it’s going to be a big source of strength. Our first goal is to play well and break pool.”
Austrian Beach Volleyball Player
Each team will play twice on the opening day of the EuroBeachVolley and the duos that win at least one of their matches will move forward. The elimination rounds will begin on Thursday, with the Round of 24 and the first encounters in the Round of 16. On Friday, the battle continues with more Round of 16 and quarterfinal duels ahead of Saturday’s semifinals and medal matches in Vienna.
This is the 31st edition of the EuroBeachVolley (for the men) and the fourth held in Austria. Before coming to Vienna in 2021, the tournament was hosted in Klagenfurt in 2013 and 2015.