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Like Davis Cup for Beach Volleyball
Berlin/Zurich, 17 January 2006: It was as if the Beach Volleyball professionals from Germany and Switzerland had waited for this event. At the premiere of the Beach Nations Cup® in February 2005 in Braunschweig they dived into the sand with so much ambition, as if Olympic medals were on the line. Two features make up the special character of this competition: First, the Beach Nations Cup® is held in the European winter in an indoor arena. Something else also distinguishes it from other Beach Volleyball tournaments: Nations with their best players face off against each other.
Something tennis cracks have been celebrating for many years as the Davis Cup is now also a Beach Volleyball reality. And this, all the participating athletes are convinced, is the actual fascination of the competition. “Sometimes it is annoying in tournaments to always play as a single team and often enough even against other teams from your own country”, Switzerland’s Sascha Heyer says. The 2005 Vice World Champion is not the only one who feels this way; a majority of his colleagues enjoy the fact that they enter the Beach Nations Cup® as representatives of their nations and not simply as “lone rangers in a duo”.
The anticipation is accordingly great for the second edition that will take place as Beach Nations Cup® Final presented by NESTEA from 3-5 February 2006 in the Berlin Sports Forum Hohenschönhausen. Markus Dieckmann has already sent a challenge via e-mail to the rest of Europe: “The trophy’s rightful place is Germany!” This year it will, however, be a lot more difficult for the Germans to defend last year’s title. While Switzerland was their only opponent at the premiere in Braunschweig, Spaniards, Norwegians, and the Swiss will challenge the defending Champions this time around. This expansion is sure to further upgrade the Beach Volleyball Davis Cup. Hinnerk Femerling, Operations Director at the Zurich based agency Global Sports Marketing (GSM), that markets the Beach Nations Cup® Final 2006 presented by NESTEA, speaks of the Cup as the “unofficial European Team Championship”.
The demand on the women’s side is also developing. The German Team around the European Champions 2003 (Stephanie Pohl/Okka Rau) will play against the team from The Netherlands that includes the reigning Vice European Champions Rebekka Kadijk/Merel Mooren. Obviously, it is not all about the honour and the glory at the Beach Nations Cup® Final 2006 presented by NESTEA: a total of 46,000 Euro in prize money will be up for grabs in Berlin. One spectacle should cause an especially big stir: The four-on-four playing format had already been successfully tested at the premiere in Braunschweig. A double block against the attacker, a passer at the net, a reception specialist in the backcourt – these are tactical measures that one usually only sees in indoor volleyball. For the Beach Volleyball specialists this is a highlight with an entire new appeal, like Patrick Heuscher felt following the premiere 2005. “I would not mind to play like this more often”, the Swiss Olympic bronze medallist said. He will have the chance to do just that in Berlin. Patrick Heuscher does, however, have an additional objective: “I want my team to be on top this time!”
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