Germany, Russia, the United States and Ukraine are the countries that made it to the final day of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2-star event in Rubavu, Rwanda, after both the men’s and women’s semifinals were set on Saturday.
The women’s tournament will see German teams in both semifinals as Chantal Laboureur/Sarah Schulz and Svenja Muller/Sarah Schneider both found their way into the final four of the event on the shores of Lake Kivu.
The top-seeded Laboureur and Schulz won a pair of matches on Saturday to remain undefeated in the tournament. They started the day with a 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) Round of 16 victory against Israel’s Anita Dave and Sofia Starikov and followed it up with a three-set (23-21, 19-21, 15-13) quarterfinal win against New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann.
They will now play Valentyna Davidova and Diana Lunina, who prevailed in the all-Ukrainian quarterfinal matchup against the Makhno twins Inna and Iryna in three sets (22-24, 22-20, 15-8).
Muller and Schneider had an even stronger day in Rubavu, securing two straight-set victories. In the Round of 16, they downed the Austrian Klinger sisters Ronja and Dorina 2-0 (21-19, 23-21). Later, in the quarterfinals, they also needed two sets (21-16, 22-20) to upset Americans Traci Callahan and Emily Stockman. They will face another American team in the semifinals, namely Emily Day and Sara Hughes, who advanced with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) quarterfinal victory against Slovenia’s Tjasa Kotnik and Tajda Lovsin.
Americans and Russians clash in men’s semifinals
The men’s tournament will see a pair of duels involving teams from the United States and Russia in the semifinal stage.
Second-seeded Theo Brunner and Chaim Schalk of the United States advanced with a 2-0 (21-11, 21-17) victory over Denmark’s Jacob Brinck and Daniel Thomsen. They will now face Russians Anton Kislytsyn and Daniil Kuvichka, who also eliminated a Danish team on their way to the semifinals, the one of Kristoffer Abell and Nicolai Hovmann, with a 2-1 (16-21, 23-21, 15-10) win.
Maksim Hudyakov and Aleksandr Kramarenko are the second Russian team in the semis after they defeated the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Bercik and Tomas Semerad in two sets (21-12, 21-11). Their opponents are Chase Budinger and Troy Field, who reached the semifinals in their first tournament together after a straight-set (21-15, 23-21) triumph over Poland’s Milosz Kruk and Mikolaj Miszczuk.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Rubavu
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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