2016-05-09 14:05:00 CEST
In-form Spaniards put to the sword by Swiss pair
Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr, pictured here in action on home sand at Gstaad Major last year, have won 20 of their last 25 matches. Photo credit: Samo Vidic
There was sweet Swiss success in Sochi on Sunday but Spain had to settle for silver. It seems we have swallowed a shed-load of s’s. Sorry.
But seriously, there were smiles on the sand for Switzerland this weekend as fourth-seeds Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr topped the podium with a 2-1 win in the women’s Sochi Open final against Spain’s Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez.
It was the Swiss pair’s second successive podium finish on the World Tour following their bronze at Fuzhou two weeks ago and it was yet another medal in Sochi after winning bronze 12 months ago.
Their victory also brought a halt to a stunning winning streak to the final for Baquerizo and Fernandez, who had won six successive matches, including a superb win over top seeds Karla Borger and Britta Büthe (GER) in the quarterfinals.
“The Spanish girls were on fire, especially with their semifinal win on Saturday over the Italian girls Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth,” said Zumkehr afterwards. “But we also had a streak of six wins entering the finale.”
It means the Swiss team have now won 20 of their last 25 matches and nobody will fancy facing them in forthcoming tournaments as they eye important Olympic qualification points on the road to Rio.
The battle for bronze went the way of German duo Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler in their epic 2-1 win over Menegatti and Orsi Toth. The Italians took the first set 22-20 before the ninth seeds from Germany bounced back to triumph 21-15 and 15-10 in the final two sets. It was the German’s second bronze in their last four tournaments after finishing third in Vitoria in Brazil in mid-March.