Moscow, Russia, August 22, 2013 – With two solid wins on the first day of pool play at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam Germany’s Karla Borger and Britta Buthe celebrated their comeback on the World Tour.
After winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Stare Jablonki in July, Buthe was out for few weeks with a stomach muscle injury.
While Buthe was recovering Borger played with Elena Kiesling at the European Championships in Klagenfurt and with Julia Sude at the Berlin Grand Slam, finishing 9th in both events.
In Moscow Borger and Buthe rejoined and booked two straight wins over Canada’s Jamie Lynn Broder and Kristina Valjas (
24-22 21-12) and Dutch team Jantine van der Vlist and Rimke Braakman (
21-19 21-17).
Fun to play again
“It’s fun to play again”, Buthe said. “In the beginning we had a bit of trouble to get used to each other again, because Karla played with different partners these last weeks and I trained with different people. So it took a little time, but I think we found solutions and I think in the end we showed some good play.”
An injury is always unwelcome, but this was extremely bad timing. “You play the World Champs and you play good. I think our game improved a lot and then you have this break of several weeks”, Buthe said.
“Of course that was really disappointing, but it doesn’t ‘t help if you just sit down and be sad. It’s just some weeks you can use for other things, train different things. I think we used these weeks as best as we could.”
It also made her appreciate Borger more. “Especially after you practice with different partners you realize how nice it is to play with Karla at your side. It’s great to have her back.”
For Borger and Buthe, who play together since 2010, this is their third Moscow Grand Slam. They finished 17th in 2011 and 25th in 2012.
Game by game
They would love to add another medal to their Stare Jablonki silver, but due to the forced break their are not sure about their chances. “It’s difficult to say how far we can go. We are just taking it game by game”, Borger said.
“We just practiced one week together. It’s weird to come back and play. Because I played with two different partners and now Britta is here. We have to get our rhythm back. But we are a good team and have a lot of self confidence after the World Champs.”
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