Swiss stars shine the brightest on #BeachNationsCup opening day
News
The 2,000 fans that went to the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna on Tuesday for the first day of the inaugural A1 CEV BeachVolley Nations Cup were gifted with exciting duels between the top countries in Europe, three golden sets in six matches and strong performances from the Swiss teams of Nina Brunner/Tanja Hüberli and Anouk Vergé-Dépré/Menia Bentele.
The winner of the last two editions of the #EuroBeachVolley, Switzerland entered the #BeachNationsCup with one of the strongest squads, featuring three Olympians and continental champions. Their condition as one of the favorites to take gold in the first edition of the tournament was confirmed on the first day of competition in Vienna, when the Swiss tandems downed opponents from Spain and the Netherlands to finish first in Pool A and advance directly to the semifinals.
Returning to Vienna for the first time after their #EuroBeachVolley victory in the Austrian capital last year, Brunner and Hüberli dropped their first match in the tournament to Spanish Maria Carro and Angela Lobato, but came back to beat the same opponents in the golden set before securing a key victory against Dutch Emma Piersma and Mexime van Driel in the second match of the day.
A 2020 #EuroBeachVolley champion, Vergé-Dépré couldn’t play with her regular partner, Joana Heidrich, who’s injured, and picked up the 20-year-old Bentele. The two were pushed to three sets twice, but came out on top on both occasions, beating Spanish Tania Moreno and Daniela Álvarez and Dutch Pleun Ypma and Emi van Driel to complete a perfect first day as partners.
Latvia relied on their stars Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka to remain alive in the #BeachNations Cup. After falling to the Dutch squad in two matches in their debut, the Latvians started the deciding series against Spain with the young Anete Namike and Varvara Brailko dropping their match to reigning U22 European champions Moreno and Álvarez.
The 2019 #EuroBeachVolley winners and last year’s Tokyo Olympic semifinalists, Graudina and Kravcenoka then rescued the team with consecutive victories against Carro and Lobato, including a dramatic 26-24 triumph in the golden set.
Tina Graudina“We’re just very happy that we’ll be able to play more here in Vienna. This was a set for survival and we could really feel that it was about living or dying in every single point.”
Latvian Beach Volleyball Player
With the results in Pool A, Switzerland moves directly to the semifinals, while the Netherlands and Latvia will appear in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Spanish team in eliminated in seventh place.
In Pool B, Italy denied hosts Austria a victory in their home debut at the #BeachNationsCup. Playing together for the first time, 23-year-old Reka Orsi Toth and 30-year-old Sara Breidenbach won their match against the Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja and also the golden set (15-13) against the top Austrian duo of Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesutchnig to give the Italian team, which also features Claudia Scampoli and Margherita Bianchin, the victory.
Reka Orsi Toth“It was nerve-wrecking. After we won our match, we were watching our teammates play, but we also knew that we needed to prepare to get on the court if they needed us for the golden set. I am so happy that we were able to get on the court again because the atmosphere was amazing. I feel we have a good energy right now and we’re playing with good vibes. We’ll try and keep that flowing for our next match.”
Italian Beach Volleyball Player
In the same pool, Czechs Martina Williams and Anna Pospisilova upset World Championship bronze medalists Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Müller of Germany in their opening match, but couldn’t handle Tokyo Olympians and #EuroBeachVolley bronze medalists Karla Borger and Julia Sude, who won the golden set 15-10 and led their country to victory.
Italians and Germans will clash on Thursday for the top spot in the pool and a direct spot in the semifinals while Austrians and Czechs will face each other with the winners making it to the quarterfinals.
The second day of competition in Vienna will also feature the opening day of the men’s tournament, which will have Norway vs. Germany and Italy vs. Poland in Pool A and the Netherlands vs. Estonia and Austria vs. the Czech Republic in Pool B.
#EuroBeachVolley
