BEACH NATIONS CUP®

Successful beach start under the arena roof!

Berlin, 03 February 2006: The Score is tied 1:1 in the Men’s Semi-Finals Germany vs. Norway and Switzerland vs. Spain – “Doubles” will Determine the Winner

The start of the Beach Nations Cup® Final 2006 presented by NESTEA from 3-5 February was successful. The men’s National Teams from Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Spain provided fans in the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen with high-class sport and great entertainment. The excitement is especially high, because the “singles” matches between Spain and Switzerland and Germany and Norway are both tied 1:1. Therefore the “doubles” in the unorthodox “four on four” formation will determine the finalists. In addition, the women’s teams from Germany and Norway will take part in the action on Saturday, 16.00h.

In the semi-finals between Spain and Switzerland the reigning European Champions Pablo Herrera/Raul Mesa (ESP) topped the fourth-ranked team in the world ranking list Markus Egger/Martin Laciga (SUI) in straight sets (21:17, 21:19) and equalised their match-up following the victory of the Olympic bronze medallists Patrick Heuscher/Stefan Kobel (SUI) in straight sets (21:15, 22:20) over John Garcia Thompson/Alex Ortiz.

Herrera/Mesa were exceptionally well prepared for their Swiss opponents and took the lead from early on. Especially Herrera’s block against Laciga resulted in many points, not surprising as Mesa pointed out afterward. “We know each other very well from European and international tournaments and we knew we had to block against Martin. Pablo did that very well today.” The Swiss duo reacted and changed positions, a situation the Spaniards did not handle well initially. But after repeated points on the block, Mesa finished off the set with command and is now looking forward to the “doubles match” tomorrow “where we just want to have fun.”

The second semi-final also resulted in a tie. First, the newly formed duo Julius Brink/Christoph Dieckmann were defeated in three sets (21:15, 16:21, 13:15), despite a promising start to the match, by Norway’s Jorre Kjemperud/Tarjei Skarlund who delivered an impressive performance. Afterwards, the German interim duo Markus Dieckmann/Eric Koreng tied the score with a decisive two-set victory (21:13, 21:16) over Vegard Hoidalen/Terje Overgaard from Norway.

Markus Dieckmann/Eric Koreng performed with enthusiasm, energy and fun. The latter stepped in to replace the injured Jonas Reckermann (groin problems), but the team played as if they always played alongside one another. They were in full command against Hoidalen/Overgaard, won in straight sets and equalised the score to 1:1. The two Northern Europeans could not handle the German’s clever float serves and were also uncompromising in the offence. “Of course we felt the pressure that we needed to win, but we knew they have problems with float serves”, Germany’s team captain Markus Dieckmann said. He is expecting an open match for the “doubles” match-up today. “We have a similar lineup of players, so I think it should be pretty well-balanced. Now we have to put our heads together and decide how we want to play against the Norwegians, to bring home the necessary victory.”