Jurmala, Latvia, September 18, 2020 – Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina remain on course for more success on Jurmala Beach after they reached the CEV European Championships women’s quarterfinals on Friday.
All matches were postponed on Thursday after high winds hit the arena, but they were able to enjoy a full day’s play on the Baltic coast.
The Russian pair won the CEV Under-22 European Championships at the venue in 2018, and they have showed that they are capable of enjoying medals success on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour having won gold at the 2019 Espinho 4-Star.
Makroguzova and Kholomina defeated France’s Alexandra Jupiter and Aline Chamereau 2-0 (21-17, 21-15), and will now take on Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth.
The Italians knocked out Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina, the defending champions and last remaining Latvian team with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) victory.
German dominance
The other three quarterfinals all feature German teams.
Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch, who won gold at the Rome 2019 FIVB World Tour Finals, defeated compatriots Sandra Ittlinger and Chantal Laboureur 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) to set up a clash against Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre.
The Swiss pair defeated the Netherlands’ Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink 2-0 (26-24, 21-16).
Cinja Tillmann and Kim Behrens saw off Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli 2-0 (21-18, 21-15), and will now face Finland’s Riikka Lehtonen and Niina Ahtiainen, who beat Spain’s Liliana Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo 2-1 (13-21, 21-19, 17-15).
Viktoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider are the third German team, and they will need to overcome Czech Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympians Marketa Slukova and Barbara Hermannova to reach the semifinals.
Home hopes
Two Latvian men’s teams remain in the tournament.
Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins maintained their hopes of a second European title and the chance to make up for finishing with silver the last time Jurmala hosted the tournament, but they must overcome Russia’s Nikita Liamin and Taras Myskiv to reach the quarterfinals.
Fellow Latvians Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs are also into the second knockout round, where they take on Italy’s Rio 2016 silver medallists Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai.
Elsewhere FIVB World Rankings’ number one pair Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway are through, as are Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy, the reigning world champions.
