The beach volleyball players Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann made it straight into the round of 16 at the European Championships on the Danube Island in Vienna.
The duo from Dusseldorf and Munster won both games of their preliminary round group. The 2:0 (21:17, 21:15) over Franziska Friedl and Katharina Schützenhöfer from Austria let last year’s World Cup third place finishers 2:1 (16:21, 21:17, 15:13) against Monika Paulikiene/ Aine Raupelyte from Lithuania will follow.
One win and one defeat each was enough for Sandra Ittlinger/Karla Borger, Leonie Körtzinger/Lea Sophie Kunst and Laura Ludwig/Louisa Lippmann to reach the intermediate round. After the 2:0 (21:17, 21:14) win over Körtzinger/Kunst, Ittlinger/Borger lost to the top seeded Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner 1:2 (13:21, 22:20, 15:17).
German duel in the intermediate round
Körtzinger/Kunst prevented the premature end by beating the Ukrainian twin sisters Inna and Irina Machno 2:0 (21:17, 21:17). Ludwig/Lippmann initially won 2-0 (23:21, 21:15) against Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti-Liukkonen from Finland. In the second game of the day there was a 0:2 (15:21, 14:21) defeat against Katja Stam/Raisa Schoon from the Netherlands, who are in second place in the seeding list.
In the intermediate round, the German teams will fight for a place in the round of 16 this Thursday. There is a duel between Ludwig/Lippmann and Körtzinger/Art (2 p.m.). Ittlinger/Borger meet Ahtiainen/Lahti-Liukkonen before that (10:00 a.m.).
Hamburg’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler, who are the only German men’s duo to start in Vienna, will take part in the tournament on Thursday (12:00 p.m.). The first opponents are the Austrians Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger.
