Dhe defending champions Karla Borger and Julia Sude were eliminated from the German beach volleyball championships in Timmendorfer Strand. The duo from Stuttgart had to give up on Friday in the quarter-final match against Kim Behrens and Cinja Tillmann when the score was 0-1 sets and 11:13 in the second round due to injuries.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Behrens and Tillmann will meet last year’s runners-up Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch. In the quarter-finals there was a duel between the two Rio Olympic champions Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst in front of 200 spectators – more are not allowed due to the corona pandemic. In the end, Ludwig and Kozuch prevailed against Walkenhorst with their only 18-year-old partner Anna-Lena Grüne after a high-class game with 2-1 sets (13:21, 23:21, 15:10). In set two, Grüne / Walkenhorst already had three match balls.
“It couldn’t be more unfavorable”
For Kira Walkenhorst it was only the tenth game after her break of more than a year and a half. The 29-year-old had to be treated for circulatory problems from the middle of the third set, but managed to persevere with a remarkable energy output. “I just had fun being able to play again,” she said.
Karla Borger and Julia Sude, however, had to process their disappointment with the unfortunate end. Borger received treatment on his right shoulder, while Sude was struggling with a foot injury. “Moved in the last quarter of an hour of the last training session on Tuesday in Stuttgart on my 33rd birthday. It couldn’t have been more unfavorable, ”said national player Sude. Kim Behrens and Cinja Tillmann consoled their friends. Last year they were third, now they are back in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The national teams Sandra Ittlinger / Chantal Laboreur and Victoria Bieneck / Isabel Schneider contest the second semi-final. Ittlinger / Laboreur defeated the junior team Svenja Müller / Sarah Schulz 2-0 (21:18, 22:20) in the quarter-finals. Bieneck / Schneider were able to assert themselves against Melanie Gernert and Lena Ottens in two sets (21:17, 32:30).
After the women’s semi-finals, the men’s tournament continues with the round of 16 on Saturday. The defending champions Bennet and David Poniewaz meet the brothers Georg and Peter Wolf from Frankfurt. The vice-world champions Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler are already qualified for the quarter-finals.
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