Sochi, Russia, May 7, 2016 - Led by defending Sochi Open champions Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth of Italy, three of the top 10 teams on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list have advanced to the “final four” of the second annual event here Saturday after winning mid-day matches on the rain-soaked courts at Sport Inn.
But the “real” story during Saturday’s opening quarter-final matches was the comeback victory by sixth-seeded Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez of Spain, who scored a 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 18-16) win in 54 minutes over top-seeded Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany, the fifth-ranked team on the FIVB World Tour standings for 2015-2016.
Joining the Italians and Spaniards in the semi-finals after winning quarter-final matches to start Saturday’s play on the courts in the Black Sea coastal report city are fourth-seeded Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland and ninth-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler of Germany.
Menegatti and Orsi Toth will play Elsa and Liliana at 4 p.m. (local time) Saturday in the first semi-final. Holtwick and Semmler, who lost two of three Sochi Open matches in pool play before posting three-straight elimination wins, will challenge Heidrich and Zumkehr in the second women’s semi-final match with the winners meeting Sunday evening for the gold medal and the $11,000 first-place prize.
The Spaniards and Italians have met five times internationally with Elsa and Liliana leading 4-1. Menegatti and Orsi Toth won the last match last July in Gstaad, Switzerland. It will be the 10th FIVB World Tour meeting between the Swiss and Germans with Holtwick and Semmler holding a 6-3 edge in the series. Heidrich and Zumkehr won the last match with a two-set elimination bracket win two weeks ago in Fuzhou, China.
Elsa and Liliana, who had lost their previous two matches to the Germans, saw Borger and Buthe put together a 12-6 run at the end of the first set to start the match negatively. After a close win in the second set, Elsa and Liliana overcame three match points for the Germans in the third and deciding set to score the final three points to win the quarter-final match.
“Not only is that a big win in our bid to add points to our Olympic ranking total,” said the 29-year old Liliana, “it is a big win over a very good team that beat us soundly early this season in Brazil (Vitoria March 17, 21-12, 21-14). It was tough playing in the cold and damp conditions, but we made it through. It is also important as we made our first semi-final in a long time.”
With the Sochi Open being their 89th FIVB World Tour event, Elsa and Liliana’s last semi-final appearance was two seasons ago (18-event drought) in the United States where the pair placed fourth at the Long Beach Grand Slam. The Spaniards ended the 2014 season as the ninth-ranked team in the world and were No. 11 last season. Elsa and Liliana started this season slowly with no finish higher than ninth in four events with a 4-11 match mark.
Now with five-straight wins in the Sochi Open to increase their Rio Olympic qualifying total to 4,330 points to rank No. 12, Elsa and Liliana will now play Menegatti and Orsi Toth (2,700), the No. 1 team on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list with the Spaniards now No. 29 (1,050).
MENEGATTI/ORSI TOTH
With the US$150,000 Sochi Open being the ninth women’s stop on the 2015-2016 international Beach Volleyball calendar, the third-seeded Menegatti and Orsi Toth scored a 2-0 (21-9, 23-21) win in 32 minutes over 24th-seeded qualifiers Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni of Greece to advance to their third semi-final this season and their ninth in four seasons of playing together on the FIVB circuit.
With their fifth-straight win in the Sochi Open and 31st of the season, Menegatti and Orsi Toth defeated the Greek pair for the second-time on the FIVB World Tour with the first being three seasons ago in November 2013 in Phuket, Thailand. Despite the setback, Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni posted their best career finish in 15 FIVB appearances as the pair had to qualify for the Main Draw and ended their Sochi stay with 5-1 record.
HEIDRICH/ZUMKEHR
In a match featuring two teams on the “bubble” for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Heidrich and Zumkehr scored a 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 22-20) win in 56 minutes over fifth-seeded Ana Gallay and Georgina Klug of Argentina. The Sochi semi-final appearance is the second “final four” berth this season for the Swiss and fourth overall in four seasons of playing together.
With the win, Heidrich and Zumkehr improved their Rio point total to 4,230 points to rank No. 13 with the top 15 teams from the FIVB World Tour, excluding Brazilians and a maximum of two per country, netting Olympic berths. Gallay and Klug are No. 15 with 3,990 Rio ranking points.
HOLTWICK/SEMMLER
Holtwick and Semmler (4,560 Olympic qualifying points), who are No. 3 among German teams on the Olympic ranking list behind Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst and Borger/Buthe, advanced to their second semi-final this season and 21st overall in 11 seasons of playing together by posting a 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-13) win in 49 minutes over compatriots Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude.
The win netted Holtwick and Semmler 50 more Olympic ranking points to increase their Rio total to 4,560. Ludwig/Walkenhorst are No. 1 on the list among non-Brazilian pairs with 5,740 points with Borger and Buthe No. 7 at 4,860. Laboureur and Sude have 4,350 points for Rio to trail Holtwick and Semmler by 210 points, which is 510 points behind Borger/Buthe.
UP NEXT
The final four FIVB World Tour qualifying events begin with a stop next week in Turkey (Antalya, 10-15 followed by events in the United States (Cincinnati, May 17-22), Moscow (May 24-29) and Germany (Hamburg, June 7-12). Also counting towards Olympic qualification will be the European championships June 1-5 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.