The Hague, The Netherlands, June 13, 2013 – Austria’s Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst upset world champions Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in two close sets (22-20 24-22) on Thursday. At the same time the eighteenth seeded Austrians secured top position in pool B at the second main draw day of the Transavia The Hague Grand Slam.
The players had to deal with challenging weather conditions on the Scheveningen beach, with wind speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour. “It was very difficult with this wind, we Austrians are not used to it”, Doppler said. “But we were very motivated against Alison and Emanuel because the last time we played them, at the Olympics in London, they beat us 16-14 in the third set.”
“We had a good start yesterday, with a win over the Dutch (Spijkers/Varenhorst). And just like yesterday this was a fighting game. We had a powerful serve like we always do and tried to use the wind to our advantage.”
Doppler and Horst were leading 16-14 in the second set when Brazil came back from behind. Doppler: “Alison had four of five of his kill blocks and it got exciting in the end, but we won.”
The Austrians will play their third and final pool match at 6 pm against Canadians Chris Redmann and Maverick Hatch. Whether they lose or win Doppler and Horst already secured top position and will start in the second elimination round on Friday.
FIVB Transavia Grand Slam tournament page Twitter: @FIVB Volleyball
Facebook: FIVB - International Volleyball Federation
YouTube: FIVB Video