Czech Republic, Germany and Netherlands advance teams from Myslowice Country Quota
Two teams from the Czech Republic and one each from Germany and the Netherlands emerged from the country quota play-offs to advance to Wednesday's Myslowice Open qualification tournament as the fourth stage of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour got under way on Tuesday.
Germany's Borger Karla/Britta Büthe and Marielle Kloek/Merel Mooren from the Netherlands joined the Czech Republic's Michaela Vorlova/Karolina Rehackov and Martina Bonnerova/Barbora Hermannova in winning their country quota matches in two straight sets to move into Wednesday's qualification phase.
Borger/Büthe beat Stefanie Hüttermann/Anni Schumacher 23-21, 21-19 while the Netherland's Kloek/Mooren took 31 minutes to beat Jolien Sinnema/Margo Wiltens 21-16, 21-11.
Vorlova/Rehackova beat Romana Elblova/Stepanka Stastna 21-15, 21-16 while Dosoudilova Sona Novakova/TerezaTobiasova lost out to fellow Czechs Bonnerova/Hermannova 21-17- 21-15.
Meanwhile, top seeds and world number one Juliana and Larissa have withdrawn from the tournament, the first European event of the year, citing a busy schedule ahead with the first Grand Slam taking place in Beijing from June 6-11 and the FIVB Swatch World Championships being held in Rome, Italy from June 13-20.
"This is a strategic stop as we can improve our physical side," Larissa, who with Juliana won the first two women's stops of the season in Brasilia and Sanya, said. "We usually reach the top of our preparation in the middle of the season and it will happen exactly during the Grand Slams, which are steps that are worth more points. We'll train hard during these weeks and return to competition next month."
The Myslowice Open, which takes place May 17-22, is the second single-gender event on this year’s circuit and the fourth overall for women after stops in Brasilia, Sanya and Shanghai.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2011, the international beach volleyball circuit is in Myslowice for the fourth consecutive season and the eighth straight year in Poland. The Myslowice Open, being played at the Summer Sports Resort, will be the second time and first since 2008 that a women’s FIVB Swatch World Tour event will be held in the southwestern Polish community. It is also the seventh time in the last six years that the women will play in Poland.
The second FIVB Swatch World Tour event in Poland for the fourth consecutive year will be the $600,000 Mazuri Orlen Grand Slam to be held from July 25 to 31 in Stare Jablonki. The Stare Jablonki event is the fifth of six double-gender Grand Slam events on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour schedule.
While the women compete in Myslowice, the men will take part in the Prague Open in the Czech Republic from Tuesday to Sunday.
