Antalya, Turkey, May 13, 2016 - After playing four matches during the first two days of competition in the US$150,000 Antalya Open, Greece’s Georgios Kotsilianos and Nikos Zoupanis got a “lucky” break here Friday afternoon to win their pool and advance to Saturday’s elimination bracket with a “bye” into the second round of play.
Seeded 25th in the Main Draw and playing in Pool H with pairs from Germany, Norway and host Turkey, Kotsilianos and Zoupanis clinched the top spot in the ground when 24th-seeded qualifiers Morten Kvamsdal and Christian Sorum from the Scandinavian country forfeited the match to the Greeks due to medical reasons.
THURSDAY'S TRIUMPHS
Although the pair won their first two matches Thursday by defeating eighth-seeded Murat Giginoglu/Volkan Gogtepe of Turkey 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 15-13) in 51 minutes and ninth-seeded Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen of Germany 2-1 (20-22, 21-18, 15-11) in 52 minutes, Kotsilianos and Zoupanis still had to wait for the out-come of the other pool match if they lost to the Norwegian.
Greece's Georgios Kotsilianos (left) with a Mikasa reception as and Nikos Zoupani follows the action.
“Not playing the match today eliminated a lot of pressure,” said the 33-year old Kotsilianos, who has been playing Beach Volleyball since 2009 on the FIVB World Tour. “Since we were 2-0 and had defeated the top two teams in the pool, we still had to play well against the Norwegians. We were ready to play, but it is good to have a break after playing four matches the first two days.”
To gain a berth in the Antalya Open “money” rounds, Kotsilianos and Zoupanis had to win qualifying matches Wednesday over pairs from Austria and Latvia. Like the two group matches Thursday, all four of the Greeks’ games in Antalya have been three-setters.
“No one likes to play three-set matches, but I feel each of those games have been beneficial for us,” said Kotsilianos, who is playing in his 37th FIVB World Tour event with the 27-year old Zoupanis. “These matches have been great preparation for us as we still have a goal of playing in the Olympics in Rio. I have been slowed with a leg injury this season, so this tournament has really helped us to get ready for next month’s Continental Cup competition in Norway (Stavanger, June 22-26).”
ONE THE MEND
After playing in seven events in each of the last two seasons on the international circuit, Kotsilianos and Zoupanis are competing in only their third stop on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour calendar. “I hurt my leg in Doha (Qatar) last month and last week in Sochi was the first-time I could play due to the injury,” said Kotsilianos. “I feeling good now and we hope to continue our good play Saturday in the elimination rounds.”
Right now, the only chance the Greeks have of reaching the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is via the Continental Cup format where the team that wins their federation’s playoff for the Copacabana quadrennial event secures a berth. The confederation’s second- and third-place finishers still have an opportunity for a Rio berth when they competed in the FIVB Continental Cup Finals July 6-10 in Sochi where two more berths are awarded.
“Both my partner and I also play on the same indoor team in Greece,” said Kotsilianos, “so we love playing together on the beach. We are excited about our prospects, but Saturday is a different day. It was good that we got a break today to get some rest for tomorrow’s first match against a tough opponent. We enjoyed watching the Greek girls win their first match today, so maybe we brought them some of our luck.”
GREEK GIRLS GAIN
Not that the 21st-seeded Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni needed any luck after capturing their pool Thursday and winning their first match Friday by defeating 13th-seeded Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova of Russia 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) in 37 minutes. The Greek girls play top-seeded Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany in the Antalya Open quarter-finals with the victors advancing to Saturday’s “final four” matches.
Greek glee for three-time Olympian Vasiliki Arvaniti
The Antalya Open also features men’s competition where three rounds of elimination bracket will be played Saturday. The men’s “final four” matches will be Sunday as the winning pairs in the Antalya Open will share the $11,000 first-place prizes.