Antalya, Turkey, May 13, 2016 - Olympians Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler are in rhythm once again on the FIVB World Tour as the German pair scored two wins here Friday over Beach Volleyball tandems from Russia and the Czech Republic at the US$150,000 Antalya Open to advance to their second-straight international semi-final.
Third-place finishers this past Sunday evening at the Sochi Open in Russia, the seventh-seeded Holtwick and Semmler advanced to their 22nd FIVB World tour “final four” in 108 international starts together by eliminating 14th-seeded and defending Antalya Open champions Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 18-16) in a 49-minute quarter-final match.
Katrin Holtwick (left) competes at the Antalya Open net against Marketa Slukova (center) of the Czech Republic as German partner Ilka Semmler follows the action.
“I think playing last week in Sochi helped us gain a rhythm for our game,” said the 30-year old Semmler, who has been playing with the 32-year old Holtwick since 2006 as the pair placed ninth at the London 2012 Olympic Games where they were eliminated by compatriots Sara (Goller) Niedrig and Laura Ludwig.
Holtwick and Semmler’s opponent in Saturday morning’s first semi-final will be Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst as the top-seeded team in the second annual Antalya Open also won two matches Friday over tandems from Brazil and Greece to advance to their 12th FIVB “final four” in 30 world tour starts together.
OTHER SEMIFINAL
The other semi-final match Saturday will have sixth-seeded Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug of Argentina challenging 15th-seeded Taru Lahti/Riikka Lehtonen of Finland. While the Argentineans won two matches Friday, Lahti and Lehtonen won three elimination matches to advance to their second FIVB semi-final in 27 world tour events. The Argentineans will now be playing in their fourth “final four” on the FIVB circuit in 40 events with Borger/Buthe advancing to their eighth semi-final in 58 world tour appearances.
The two German teams will meet for the fourth-time on the FIVB World Tour with the last match being May 2014 when Holtwick and Semmler scored a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) semi-final win over Ludwig and Walkenhorst at the Prague Open. Ludwig and Walkenhorst lead the international series 2-1 after wins in 2013 at stops in China and Brazil.
The Gallay/Klug vs. Lahti/Lehtonen match is the second international meeting with the Argentineans ironically winning a quarter-final match over the Fins in the 2015 Antalya Open - 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) in 38 minutes. “Hopefully, we can gain some revenge tomorrow,” said the 36-year old Lehtonen after winning a quarter-final match Friday over a team from Germany.
“I hope our rhythm continues tomorrow,” said Semmler as her team has now won five-straight matches in the Antalya Open like the other semi-finalists. “We have not played Laura and Kira in a long time, so we’ll get with our coach and hope to come up with a tactic that will work against our rivals. The key is getting into a good rhythm with our side out game.”
Ludwig and Walkenhorst advanced to Saturday’s play with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) win in 35 minutes over 21st-seeded Vasiliki Arvaniti/Penny Karagkouni of Greece while Gallay and Klug ousted 18th-seeded qualifiers Victoria Bieneck/Julia Grossner of Germany 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) in 31 minutes.
FINS ADVANCE
After ousting teams from Spain and Vanuatu earlier Friday, Lahti and Lehtonen avenged a pool play setback to second-seeded Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany by posting a 2-1 (16-21, 23-21, 16-14) win in 57 minutes. In a Pool B match Thursday, the Germans scored a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) win in 36 minutes over Lahti and Lehtonen.
“We entered this tournament not feeling good,” said Lehtonen after the upset win in Friday’s final match. “We got stronger as the event progresses. We knew we could play better against Karla and Britta, and we did today. That was a great win for us as we stayed strong throughout the match and never lost sight of our goal to win and advance. How sweet it is!”
Riikka Lehtonen (left) and Taru Lahti of Finland after their quarter-final win Friday.