Young Dutch stun Olympic medalists to top EuroBeachVolley pool
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One of the youngest teams on the 2023 A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley, Dutch Brecht Piersma and Emi van Driel secured one of the biggest wins on the opening day of the tournament in Vienna and advanced to the Round of 16 as the first-placed team in Pool E.
Playing together for the first time on the EuroBeachVolley, the 20-year-old Piersma and the 23-year-old van Driel stunned Swiss Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré, the bronze medalists of the Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 European champions, with a two-set (21-19, 23-21) victory in the ‘pool final’ and are already guaranteed at least a ninth-place finish in the Austrian capital.
Brecht Piersma“I think the key was staying calm at all times. It was a very close match and we were really focused on keeping our side out consistent. We were a few points behind on the second set but we wouldn’t stop fighting until it was over and I’m glad we won it.”
Dutch Beach Volleyball Player
The Dutch, who had topped Italians Margherita Bianchin and Claudia Scampoli in three sets (20-22, 21-16, 15-9) in their opening match, algo managed to get revenge for their families as their older sisters, Emma Piersma and Mexime van Driel, had been defeated by the Swiss in the first round of pool play in Vienna.
Emi van Driel“It’s funny that we were drawn into the same pool and were thinking that we could play each other, but we ended up getting revenge for them. I’m really glad what we topped our pool because we’re now in a good position to keep moving forward. But there are a lot of good teams on this tournament and anyone can win or lose any match, so we’ll continue to go one match at a time and we’ll see how far we can go.”
Dutch Beach Volleyball Player
Surprising Ukrainians at the top of Pool G
Pool G was the one to bring the biggest surprises of the opening day of the EuroBeachVolley, with teams from Ukraine and Czechia battling to finish first in the pool and advance directly to the Round of 16.
Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Baieva got in that position by upsetting reigning European champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia with a two-set (23-21, 23-21) victory in the first round, while Czechs Miroslava Dunarova and Daniela Resova, who entered the tournament as last-minute substitutes for compatriots Marketa Sluková and Helena Havelková, topped Poland’s Jagoda Gruszczynska and Aleksandra Wachowicz in the tie-breaker (21-17, 16-21, 15-13) in their EuroBeachVolley debut.
When the teams faced each other, the larger experience of Davidova and Baieva, who have been partners since 2016, helped them dominate the Czechs to a straight-set (21-9, 21-12) victory.
Ievgeniia Baieva“We’re very happy that we won our two matches because we played two strong teams and it got windy at times and it was difficult to play. This is just our second international tournament this year, but we’ve been partners for a long time and that helps. We also played a national tournament in our country this past weekend and got here in good form.”
Ukrainian Beach Volleyball Player
In the second round, Tina and Anastasija defeated Gruszczynska and Wachowicz in two sets (21-16, 25-23) and advanced to the Round of 24.
Pool A had 2021 EuroBeachVolley winners Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli in first place. The Swiss, who lifted the trophy in Vienna two years ago, overcame the Ukrainian Makhno twins Inna and Iryna in two sets (21-17, 21-14) in their first match and defeated German veterans Karla Borger and Sandra Ittlinger in the tie-breaker (21-13, 20-22, 17-15) in the ‘pool final’.
Dutch Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam, who took silver in Vienna in 2021, finished at the top in Pool B. The Tokyo Olympians started their campaign at the Danube Island with a sweep (21-19, 22-20) of Austrians Eva Freiberger and Katharina Holzer and got the better of German stars Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann in their second match of the day, winning also in two sets (21-15, 21-14).
In Pool C, Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi finished in first place. They started the day with a three-set (21-18, 19-21, 15-13) victory over Spanish Sol Guidarelli and Sofia González and ended it with a sweep (21-17, 21-14) of French Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard.
The triumph of Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann in Pool D had a different script as the two secured a two-set (21-17, 21-15) victory in their first match of the day, against Austrians Franziska Frield and Katharina Schützenhöfer, but needed the tie-breaker (16-21, 21-17, 15-13) to overcome Lithuanians Aine Raupelyte and Monika Paulikiene a few hours later.
The semifinalists of the 2022 EuroBeachVolley, Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno were the best team in Pool F. The young Spanish had a strong opening day in Vienna, beating Norwegians Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Emilie Olimstad in two sets (21-13, 21-15) and then overcoming Finland’s Anniina Parkkinen and Sara Sinisalo also 2-0 (21-19, 21-16).
In Pool H, Swiss Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Esmée Böbner were the top team. The two had to play a pair of tie-breakers, but managed to prevail over Spanish Belén Carro and Angela Lobato (19-21, 22-20, 15-12) and Austrians Dorina and Ronja Klinger (19-21, 21-16, 15-13) to rank first.
The women’s EuroBeachVolley continues on Thursday with 12 matches set to take place at the Danube Island. The eight Round of 24 matches will be split into two sessions, with the first four beginning at 10:00 and the remaining four starting at 14:00. Later, at 17:00, the first four Round of 16 encounters will be played.