News 03/06/2015 Turks Post Porec Triumphs Porec, Croatia, June 3, 2015 - Three weeks after netting Turkey’s first-ever podium placement on the FIVB World Tour, Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe advanced from an international qualifier to a Main Draw for the first-time after winning a pair of matches here Wednesday in the US$800,000 Porec Major, the inaugural event on the SWATCH Beach Volleyball Major Series.The third-seeded Turks joined pairs from Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Norway, the United States and Venezuela in qualifying for the “money” rounds of this week’s Porec Major that is being played in the heart of the colorful Croatian coastal city on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.Giginoglu and Gogtepe had played in FIVB Main Draws before, but had never been successful in an international Qualification Tournament. Two weeks after winning their country’s first-ever medal on the FIVB circuit, the Turks failed to advance from the preliminary rounds at last week’s Moscow Grand Slam where a team from Norway squashed their Main Draw bid.Playing in their sixth FIVB World Tour event together, The Turks eliminated a team from The Netherlands in their first match Wednesday. Giginoglu and Gogtepe ousted 19th-seeded Armin Dollinger and Clemens Wickler of Germany 2-1 (14-21, 21-15, 15-12) in 48 minutes.Other teams advancing Wednesday to the Porec Major Main Draw were top-seeded Vitor Felipe/Alvaro Filho of Brazil, second-seeded Theo Brunner/Nick Lucena of the United States, sixth-seeded Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen of Germany, ninth-seeded Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen of Mexico, 10th-seeded Jackson Henriquez/Jesus Villafane of Venezuela, 13th-seeded Geir Eithun/Iver Horrem of Norway and 28th-seeded Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri of Italy.Wednesday was the second day of competition for the Brazilians and the Americans as both teams had to win Porec Major country quota matches Tuesday to earn a spot in the 32-team qualification tournament. Vitor/Alvaro and Brunner/Lucena also posted the same feat last week at the Moscow Grand Slam. The qualifying pairs from Italy, Mexico, Norway and Venezuela also advanced from a FIVB World Tour qualifier for the second-straight week with a pair of wins each. Ranghieri has advanced from three-straight FIVB World Tour qualifiers and second-straight with Carambula. Marco Caminati teamed with Ranghieri to net a Main Draw berths last month the Lucerne Open where the Italians eventually topped the podium for the gold medal.With the women starting Main Draw play Wednesday and their finals Saturday, the men’s quarter-finals will be played Saturday followed by their semi- finals and medal matches on Sunday. The winning teams in both genders will share the $57,000 first-place prizes along with gathering 800 “valuable” points that will help determine the field for the season-ending SWATCH Major Series event in the United States at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Following this and next week’s SWATCH Major Series event in Norway, the FIVB World Tour crosses the Atlantic Ocean for an event in the United States in St. Petersburg, Fla. The June schedule ends with the start of the world championships in The Netherlands. Reigning FIVB world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands are entered this week. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News