The Hague, The Netherlands, June 16, 2017 - After dropping “modified” pool play matches Thursday, three Brazilians regained their winning ways here Friday mid-day at the US$150,000 Dela Beach Open with opening elimination victories over pairs from Belgium, The Netherlands and Russia at the Sportcampus Zuiderpark.
Placed in the top-half of the 24-team Dela Beach Open elimination bracket following the completion of group play, the Brazilian pairs of top-seeded Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, fourth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa and sixth-seeded Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas advanced to Friday evening’s “sweet 16” matches in the FIVB World Tour stop.
Women’s teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, The Netherlands and the Slovak Republic also netted opening elimination wins Friday mid-day to advance to evening matches against pairs that earned a first-round “bye” after winning their pools Thursday.
Headlining the non-Brazilian winners were reigning Olympic champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst as the third-seeded Germans posted a 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) win in 50 minutes over 24th-seeded Kristina May/Taylor Pischke of Canada.
After losing Thursday to compatriots Victoria Bieneckand Isabel Schneider in pool play, Ludwig said her team was "really happy with this win and being in the second round. We are not playiing our best yesterday, so we wanted to improve and we did that. So we are coming back day by day, game by game. And we can't wait to play again this evening."
Walkenhorst added that her was "not in our best form at the moment, but we are working hard on it, coming back. And we will be ready for the world championships and the next tournaments."
Laura Ludwig (right) celebrates a center court point Friday against Canada.
Posting other opening wins Friday were seventh-seeded Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic, 12th-seeded Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, 30th-seeded Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink of the Netherlands and 31st-seeded qualifiers Andrea Strbova/Natalia Dubovcova of the Slovak Republic.
Here are the "elite eight" matches to be played on the outdoor and indoor courts Friday evening at the Sportcampus Zuiderpark. The winners advance to Saturday morning's quarter-finals with the semi-finals being played in the afternoon. The medal matches are set for Sunday as the winning team will split the $10,000 first-place prize.
• Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre Switzerland (Seed 17) vs. Ludwig/Walkenhorst, Germany (3)
• Brooke Sweat/Summer Ross, United States (5) vs. Fernanda/Barbara, Brazil (6)
• Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli, Switzerland (9) vs. Agatha/Duda, Brazil (4)
• Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider, Germany (14) vs. Talita/Larissa, Brazil (1)
• Brittany Hochevar/Emily Day, United States (20, Q4) vs. Bansley/Wilkerson, Canada (12)
• Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes, Canada (10) vs. Strbova/Dubovcova, Slovak Republic (31, Q18)
• Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (11) vs. Hermannova /Slukova, Czech Republic (7)
• Maria Antonelli Carolina Salgado, Brazil (15, Q1) vs. Keizer/Meppelink, Netherlands (30)
