Lucerne, Switzerland, May 13, 2015 - Kazakhstan's Tatyana Mashkova (pictured) and her partner Irina Tsimbalova split a pair of FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Lucerne Open 2015 pool play matches Wednesday to improve their tournament record to 3-1 after posting two qualifying victories Tuesday over pairs from China and Italy.
Mashkova and Tsimbalova can advance to Friday's elimination rounds as the second team from Pool F by defeating Julaluk Radarong and Manerat Udomchavee of Thailand Thursday afternoon. As the most experienced women's Beach Volleyball team from Kazakhstan, Mashkova and Tsimbalova are playing in their 47th FIVB World Tour event together and have posted career bests of fifth together in 2012 (Thailand) and 2013 (China).
Mashkova played in her first FIVB World Tour when she was a 16-year old in 2003 with Tsimbalova competing for the first time just after her 21st birthday in 2008. Participants in the Moscow Continental Cup finals for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mashkova and Tsimbalova started competing together in 2009 and have been regulars on the international circuit since 2010.