Moscow, Russia, August 23,
2013 – Germany and Brazil brought forth the most pool winners, four each, on
Friday at the sixth edition of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Moscow Grand Slam. The Brazilian women topped
their pool on three occasions, while the men took first place in one pool.
German teams ended on top of their pool twice in both the women’s and the men’s
competition. Vice-world champions Karla
Borger and Britta Büthe from Germany celebrated their comeback after an injury
with three straight wins. Only one other team managed that: Brazil’s Liliane
Maestrini and Barbara Seixas de Freitas. Host country Russia lost its
top team in the women’s competition. With just one win Evgenia Ukolova and
Ekaterina Khomyakova finished 4th in their pool. Out of nine Russian teams,
four made it to the elimination rounds. Kazakhstan
shock Bruno and Pedro to top the pool
In a direct battle for top
position in pool B at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandr
Dyachenko defeated Brazil’s World Tour leaders Pedro Solberg and Bruno Oscar
Schmidt in three sets (15-21 21-18 16-14) on Friday.
In the thrilling tiebreak the Kazakhs took an early lead. Brazil equalled at
8-8 and even took a lead at 11-10, but Sidorenko and Dyachenko persevered and
at their second match point Dyachenko claimed victory with a kill block. More
Austria and Spain play the
European final all over again
In the final round of pool
play at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam Austria’s Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger and
Spain’s Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan played the
European final all over again.
In a thrilling point-by-point match that took over an hour on Friday the
Schwaiger-sisters persevered to win this battle 2-1 (29-27 21-19 15-13), just
like they did at the European Championships in Klagenfurt a few weeks ago. More
Flüggen and Walkenhorst upset
world champions again
Germany’s Lars Flüggen and
Alexander Walkenhorst are turning out to be the world champions’ nemesis. After
defeating Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen at the European Championships
in Klagenfurt a few weeks ago, the German team also upset the Dutch on the
second day of pool play at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam.
With one set down and leading 16-12 in the second, victory was within reach for
Brouwer and Meeuwsen, but the Germans came back strong and turned the game
around: 19-21 23-21 15-11. More
The Moscow Grand Slam
continues on Saturday with three elimination rounds. The semifinals and medal
matches for both genders are scheduled for Sunday.
The sixth edition of the
Russian event is assured of new winners, since last year’s champions Alison
Cerutti and Emanuel Rego play with different partners and China’s Chen Xue and
Xi Zhang are not here to defend their title.
After Moscow the FIVB World
Tour takes a break until October when the final two Grand Slams in Beijing
(2-6) and Sao Paulo (9-13) are held.
FIVB
Moscow Grand Slam Tournament Page
FIVB
Moscow Grand Slam Men’s Main Draw
FIVB
Moscow Grand Slam Women’s Main Draw
FIVB Moscow Grand Slam Twitter Account