Olympic qualification picture could become clearer in Switzerland

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Will Karla Borger and Britta Büthe be celebrating Olympic qualification at the European Championship this week? Photo credit: Predrag Vuckovic.

Forget football’s European Championships – today the beach volleyball European Championship kicks off in Switzerland!

And while our smart Major Hamburg will be the last chance for the world’s beach volleyball stars to rack up important Olympic qualification points, Europe’s elite get an extra opportunity this week!

Yes, drum roll please… it’s the annual CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Finals which take place in Biel! After last year’s spectacular event in Klagenfurt, Austrian neighbor, Switzerland, hosts this year’s battles for Europe’s highly anticipated gold medal. And with Rio fast approaching, it promises to be a dramatic penultimate chance for the Europeans to lock down a place on the Copacabana.

With plenty still to be decided with who has the Copacabana sand between their toes, it will be a particularly nerve-jangling few days for the German teams vying for a ticket to Brazil.

In the men’s tournament, Markus Böckermann and Lars Flüggen and Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik lie on the cusp of qualification for the Olympics and head to Switzerland confident of amassing enough points to keep their dreams alive. Erdmann and Matysik will face hot competition, however, in the Pool Play as they have been drawn with number one seeds Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst from the Netherlands. Böckermann and Flüggen, meanwhile, will face Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in their Pool.

But perhaps the real drama – and indeed the talk of the tour – concerns three German women’s teams. With Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst assured of a place at Rio, a fight to become the second team from Germany to fly to Brazil is reaching a nail-biting climax between three teams. Only 330 points currently separate Karla Borger and Britta Büthe and Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler in the provisional standings. And don’t rule out Chantal Laboureur and Julie Sude who trail a Rio place by 750 points.

Markus Böckermann and Lars Flüggen in action at our Poreč Major last year. But will they be heading to Rio? Photo credit: Tomislav Moze.

It’s a fascinating story! The German national football team’s European Championship squad selection made the headlines this week after the omission of Marco Reus – but the most important question we need answering is which team in beach volleyball will be left disappointed?!

In Switzerland Borger/Büthe have been handed a position in Pool C, while Holtwick/Semmler find themselves in Pool G which contains one of the two Swiss Olympic hopes Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr.

So hold onto your hats! The Olympic qualification picture could – could! – become clearer come the weekend…but then attention will turn to Hamburg next week where there are sure to be plenty more twists and turns in what has become one of the most dramatic races for the Olympics ever! Who will make it?! We’ll find out soon enough, so bring it on!