2017-10-27 17:58:00 CET
Indoor beach volleyball tourney showcases plenty of spectacular surprises
Weird weather in the northern hemisphere? Who cares – the lovely town of Aalsmeer in the Netherlands hosts an indoor one star FIVB World Tour beach volleyball tournament right now. That’s the spirit!
It's Day 3 of the Aalsmeer Open and the local crowd loves the indoor tournament and we appreciate the athletic entertainment to make the wait until the new Swatch Major Series kick-off bearable.
Women’s elimination
We're already facing the quarterfinals on Saturday with only one host country team left. Stubbe/Meppelink - who only recently formed a team - will face French neighbors Richard/Carrere. Both Dutch girls are regulars at the Swatch Major Series and are seen as favorites in their home country.
Another big showdown is expected when two American teams have to battle it out against each other in tomorrow’s elimination round. USA’s Emily Stockman and Kimberly DiCello, who already grabbed gold at the one star tourney in Langkawi in April, collide with compatriots Betsi Flint and Kelley Larsen.
The remaining female teams are Paula Soria & Amaranta Fernandez (ESP), Miki Ishii & Megumi Murakami (JPN), Kim Behrens & Sandra Ittlinger (GER) and Romania's Adriana-Maria Matei & Beata Vaida.
Men of Europe
Besides one US Team, Kolinske/Evans, all 15 remaining teams are European. With four Dutch teams still in the competition, hopes are high to put an Oranje foot on the podium. Swatch Major Series alumni Caminati/Rossi and Ukranian Popov/Denin have already advanced to the quarterfinals.
In the men’s competition, the qualification already delivered an outstandingly strong performance by new Turkish team Mermer/Giginoglu. The team from the Bosphorus marched through with straight sets in both qualification rounds.
The English beach volleyball federation sent two teams across the Channel and have - sadly - already welcomed them back home.
Without the Brazilians around, who are currently competing on the national tournament circuit, everything seems possible for the remaining athletes.
All results and information about the event in Aalsmeer:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Aalsmeer
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
FIVB.com - Beach Volleyball