German Laboureur - Tillman and Czech Perusic - Schweiner still going to the Top

April 19, 2021

German Laboureur - Tillman and Czech Perusic - Schweiner still going to the Top

New partners on the World Tour, Chantal Laboureur and Cinja Tillmann progress to the quarterfinals. They have only experimented with the good side of it so far as the Germans advanced to the quarterfinals of the first of the three 4-star events held at the Cancun Hub on Sunday.

Laboureur and Tillman have won three of their first four matches together and their only setback came in a three-setter against reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes in pool play. In the Round of 16, the Germans upset Swiss Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli, who were semifinalists at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, and won 2-1 (16-21, 23-21, 16-14) to continue progressing in the tournament.

In Monday’s quarterfinals, the Germans will face Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who eliminated world ranking leaders April Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States with a 2-0 (29-27, 21-15) victory. The Australians won the last World Tour event held in Mexico, a 4-star tournament in Chetumal, in November 2019.

Chantal Laboureur (Germany)

There will also be an all-Canadian quarter-final match-up reuniting Pavan and Humana-Paredes and Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson, who both eliminated German duos in the round-of-16.

The world champions beat Julia Sude and Karla Borger 21-18, 16-21, 15-12 while Bansley and Wilkerson defeated Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch 20-22, 21-15, 22-20.

Brazil will also have teams meeting for a spot in the semi-finals.

Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima advanced with a 21-14, 15-21, 15-12 win over Greeks Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni, while Rebecca Cavalcanti and Ana Patricia Ramos moved forward after they eliminated Cubans Leila Martinez and Maylen Deliz 21-18, 19-21, 15-10.

Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa are Brazil's third team in the quarter-finals as the 2018 FIVB World Tour Finals winners beat Cuba's Lidiannis "Lidy" Echeverria and Yanisleidis Sanchez 21-13, 21-10.

Their opponents will be Russians Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina who prevailed over Americans Emily Stockman and Kelley Kolinske 21-15, 21-16.

Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner started Sunday, the second day of the first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event of the Cancun Hub, facing a serious risk of elimination. Three matches and nearly 12 hours later, the scenario had changed drastically as the Czechs had secured a spot in the quarterfinals in Mexico.

Their path continued in the Round of 24, where they eliminated Russians Nikita Liamin and Taras Myskiv also in three sets (21-12, 16-21, 15-9) to move forward. In the Round of 16, they secured their only 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) triumph in the tournament so far, against Americans Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.

In the quarterfinals, the Czechs will face another Russian team in Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov. The two ended the run of Swiss qualifiers Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener in the tournament with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) Round of 16 win.

Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner (Czech Republic)

Top-seeded and world ranking leaders Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway also moved on as they secured their third victory in the event, a 21-15, 15-21, 15-12 triumph over American veterans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena.

They will now face Brazilian qualifiers Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes and Arthur Mariano, who also eliminated an American duo after they beat Jake Gibb and Taylor Crabb 22-20, 21-9.

Another match-up will see Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar facing Italy's Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi.

The Qataris advanced by defeating reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia 21-12, 19-21, 15-10, while the Italians moved forward after they ousted Swiss duo Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer 21-18, 23-21.

The last men's quarter-final will be between Austria's Ermacora and Pristauz, who defeated Germans Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen 21-17, 23-21, and Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, who downed Italian Olympic medallists Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai 17-21, 21-19, 15-13.