Anapa, Russia, July 26, 2013
– The women’s final four of the inaugural Anapa Open comprises two Russian
teams and a German and American pair, who never played in a FIVB semifinal
before.
Russia’s top seeded Evgenia
Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova will play USA’s Heather Hughes and Kaitlin
Sather Nielsen on Saturday. In the other semifinal Russia’s Maria Prokopeva and
Svetlana Popova take on Germany’s Teresa Mersmann and Isabel Schneider. The men in Anapa finalized
pool play on Friday. Five teams topped their pool with three straight wins,
including Slovenian qualifiers Necj Zemljak and Jan Pokersnik. Two Russian
teams in Anapa Open women’s semifinals
Two Russian teams made it to
the women’s final four of the Anapa Open after three elimination rounds on
Friday.
First seeded Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova will play USA’s Heather
Hughes and Kaitlin Sather Nielsen while Maria Prokopeva and Svetlana Popova
take on Germany’s Teresa Mersmann and Isabel Schneider on Saturday. More
Perfect start for new
Brazilian team Thiago and Brandao
On their first FIVB event as
a new team Thiago Santos Barbosa and Oscar Brandao booked their third straight
win in pool play at the Anapa Open on Friday, defeating Latvia’s Haralds Regza
and Abolins Armands 21-15, 21-18.
“It was not hard for us to motivate for this match”, Thiago said. “Cause we
could win the pool. It’s not always you have the chance to win the pool. It’s a
good opportunity to have one less match tomorrow, so we can rest a little.” More
Argentina tops the pool with
a little bit of luck and determination
Argentina’s Ian Mehamed and
Julian Amado Azaad won a tight battle for top position in pool D at the Anapa
Open on Friday. The South Americans defeated Germany’s Finn Dittelbach and Eric
Koreng 2-1 (13-21, 21-17, 15-11), who had also claimed two wins so far, to
advance to the second elimination round unbeaten.
Mehamed (23) and Azaad (22) lost the first set to the Germans, but made a
strong comeback. “We started out bad”, Mehamed said. “They took a lot of points
from us, but in the second we paid more attention to the details and we could
make a bridge with our block.” More
Estonia’s Vesik and Kollo
came to Anapa only for the gold
Estonia’s Rivo Vesik and
Kristo Kollo came to the FIVB Anapa Open with just one goal: the gold. And they
are well on their way, topping the pool on Friday with three straight wins.
“We came here to win the tournament, there can’t be any lower goals, otherwise
there’s no point in coming here. If I say I want to become 9th, I should stop playing”,
33-year old Vesik said. More
The women’s semifinals are
scheduled for 11:00 and 12:00 on Saturday after the first elimination round in
the men’s competition. The women’s medal matches are played at 15:00 and 16:00.
The men’s semifinals and
medal matches are scheduled for Sunday.
FIVB
Anapa Open Tournament Page
FIVB
Anapa Open women’s schedule and results
FIVB
Anapa Open men’s schedule and results
FIVB Anapa Open Twitter account