Top seeds off to winning start at Beach Volleyball World Championships
Favourites Chen Xue and Zhang Xi of China lived up to expectations on the first day of the women’s competition at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Mazury 2013 when they won their opening match against home team and 47th seeds Daria Paszek and Katarzyna Kociolek 2-0 (21-10 21-19) on Monday.
The top seeds are aiming to win their second World Championships medal after they won bronze at Rome 2011. They also hold bronze medals from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, but having missed out on the medals at London 2012 they will be determined to reach the podium this year. However, they have had to adjust from hot and humid conditions in China to cool, breezy conditions in Stare Jablonki. “We will just try our best and go for the gold,” Xue said. “We just came from Nanjing, where we prepared for the World Championships. It was very hot and humid there. Now we have to get used to this rather cool weather.”
For Paszek and Kociolek this is their first World Championships, but they have been placed in a tough pool. Along with Xue and Zhang Xi, they also take on Slovakia’s Natalia Dubovcova and Dominika Nestarcova and Finland’s twin sisters Emilia and Erika Nystrom. More
Men’s field eyeing chance to dethrone reigning champions The men’s competition at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Mazury 2013 will begin on Tuesday with 47 sides out to dethrone reigning champions Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil. USA’s Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal are the leading pair challenging the number one seeds and they arrive in Poland having won gold at the most recent event, the Rome Grand Slam just over a week ago and they start against Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros of Mexico at 18:00. More
Teams out to build on early momentum A number of highly-rated teams will be out to guarantee their place in the knockout rounds on day two of the women’s competition at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, Mazury 2013. Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Greta Cicolari, Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst and Ilka Semmler and Katrin Holtwick all made winning starts to the tournament and know that a second win will mean their names will at the very least go into the draw for the first knockout round. More
Dumbauskaite and Povilaityte write history for Lithuania Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte are writing history for Lithuania this week in Stare Jablonki. They are the first team to represent their country at the FIVB World Championships. In the past, four teams from Lithuania did enter qualifying at the World Championships in Marseille in 1999, but they failed to advance to the Championship Main Draw. “It’s like a history event for us”, Dumbauskaite said after their first match on Monday. “We are the first pair from Lithuania playing the World Championships. I am not thinking about that yet, it will sink in after the event. I am proud that I can be here.” Beach volleyball is increasing in popularity in Lithuania, helped by Dumbauskaite's and Povilaityte's win in the 2012 U19 World Championships. “Right now beach volleyball in Lithuania is growing. More children are playing beach volleyball than two or three years ago and I am so happy about that.” More
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Mazury 2013 takes place every two years. The evnt in Stare Jablonki runs from July 1 to 7 with the women’s finals on Saturday and men’s finals on Sunday.
