Two of four German beach volleyball teams reached the round of 16 at the World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler easily prevailed in the round of the best 32 teams in two sets with 21:12 and 21:17 against the Austrians Julian Hörl and Alexander Horst. The German champions Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann won 22:20, 21:16 against the Spanish Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Paula Soria Gutierrez.
The tournament, however, is over for Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann, who lost 21:19, 20:22 and 8:15 against the Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Silva. Sandra Ittlinger and Karla Borger were also eliminated after 19:21, 23:25 against the Australians Mariafe Artacho del Solar/Taliqua Clancy.
Ludwig/Lippmann award match point
Ludwig/Lippmann had earned a match point at 20:19 in the second set after being 13:18 behind. But the South Americans kept their nerve and averted defeat. In the tiebreak, the error rate for the two Germans was too great.
The only German men’s duo, Ehlers/Wickler, clearly set the direction in the first round. A 13:6 lead quickly turned into 21:12. In set number two, the Austrians put up a little more resistance, but ultimately had no chance.
Müller/Tillmann – like Ludwig/Lippmann and Ehlers/Wickler based in Hamburg – only had some problems with the Spaniards in the first set. Then last year’s World Cup third-placers asserted their game. The Stuttgart duo Ittlinger/Borger had a set point in the second round, but in the end they had to acknowledge the Australians’ superiority.
