Moscow, Russia, June 11, 2014 – Georgina Klug was able to mark her 30th birthday in memorable style at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam when she and Ana Gallay made it through the qualification rounds on Wednesday.
The Argentine duo defeated Austria’s Barbara Hansel and Bianca Zass 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) to seal their passage into the main draw, which begins on Wednesday.
“I’m 30-year-olds today so I was waiting till after the match to let everyone wish me a happy birthday,” Klug said.
“Until now I said don’t give me anything, don’t celebrate it until after the match and now we can celebrate. We are proud of our work; it’s another main draw for us.”
The pair only teamed up at the start of 2013 and since then they have enjoyed plenty of success on the South American Beach Volleyball Tour, success that they are aiming to replicate on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
They have now reached the quarterfinals of three Open events and are fast becoming a regular presence in the mores prestigious Grand Slam main draws.
“So far it (2014) has been incredible,” Klug continued. “We finished fifth in Fuzhou, ninth at the Shanghai Grand Slam, which was the first time we’d got so far in a Grand Slam and then fifth in the Mexican Open (Puerto Vallarta).
“It has been great and we are going to all the Grand Slams this year and our goal is to reach every main draw. I think we can do it and we are working hard to do so.”
Joining them among seven other teams are Italian duo Daniela Gioria and Laura Giombini. They defeated Finnish twin sisters Erika and Emilia Nystrom 2-0 (23-21, 21-12).
“We’re very happy, we’ve won our match and we’ve qualified,” Gioria said. “Tomorrow it all starts again for us and we have to refocus again and relax a little before then.”
“We definitely didn’t think it would be two sets,” Giombini added. “We knew we would have to give it our all and play to our best if not it would be doubly hard for us.”
The double-gender US$800,000 FIVB Moscow Grand Slam runs from Wednesday, June 11 through to Sunday June 15. It is the sixth event and the second Grand Slam on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar, which features nine Grand Slams and 11 Open tournaments.
The 2014 World Tour began at the Fuzhou Open in China in April and concludes at the Durban Open in South Africa in December. Next up on the World Tour calendar is the Berlin Grand Slam which runs from June 17-22.