Nanjing, China, July 13, 2017 - Moritz Fabien Kindl and Marian Klaffinger from Austria did not let their lucky loser spot go to waste, topping their main draw pool at the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships.
Quick links - Beach volleyball:Nanjing U21 - WebsiteNanjing U21 - Women's TeamsNanjing U21 - Men's TeamsFIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 20172017 FIVB World Championships - Beach Volleyball2017 FIVB World Championships - Beach Volleyball qualificationRio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games - Beach VolleyballFIVB.com - Beach VolleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesFabien/Klaffinger were knocked out by Brazil’s Gabriel Heilborn Gouveia and Rafael Jose Mendonca de Queiroz from Brazil in round three of the qualification tournament, before they found themselves back in the competition with the golden lucky loser ticket.
In their final pool play match they met USA’s Clay Messenger and Adam Wienckowsk who had won their first two pool matches. Fabien/Klaffinger with nothing to lose put in a spirited performance to earn the win, 2-0 (21-14, 21-18).
Austria's Marian Klaffinger (left) Moritz Fabian Kindl“In the first set it was a tough game until I had a service streak and that helped us a lot. In the second I was bad and I was lucky that my partner had a good side-out and it was a nice game,” said Kindl.
“We had nothing to lose because actually we lost in the qualification so we had an empty mind and we could play freely, without pressure,” said Klaffinger.
Their two wins placed them top of the pool on point difference above Messenger/Wienckowsk and China’s Ch. Y. Liu/T. Y. Yan who each took two wins and also progress into the knock-out phase.
Adrielson Dos Santos Silva and Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho from Brazil are displaying good form in Nanjing as the pair top their pool with three straight set wins. Pairing up for the first time in Nanjing, Adrielson/Renata now enter directly into the round of 16 knock-out phase.
Both Renato and Adrielson have previous age-group world championship experience with different partners. Renato won gold at the U19 Larnaka World Championships last year and Adrielson competed in Lucerne U21’s last year finishing ninth.
Argentina's Mauro Zelayeta (red) and Brazil's Renato Andrew Lima de CarvalhoIn their final pool match the Brazilians met Argentina’s Mauro Zelayeta and Bautista Amieva in their first international tournament. The 17-year-old Argentinians put up a strong fight against Adrielson (20-years-old) and Renato (18-years-old), but the Brazilian side continued their winning streak, taking the win 2-0 (21-18, 21-15).
“We’re really happy to get this win and top the pool. We have been playing well so far. We didn’t know this Argentinian team before, but we’re pleased with the win and aiming for gold,” said Adrielson.
Zelayeta/Amieva also proceed out of pool play and into the round of 24 knock-out phase, winning one match and finishing third in the pool.
Australia's Marcus Ferguson (blue) against Florian Breer from Switzerland The other teams to take three pool wins and enter directly into the round of 16 knock-outs are Gabriel Heilborn Gouveia and Rafael Jose Mendonca de Queiroz from Brazil, Switzerland’s Florian Breer and Yves Haussener, Poland’s Mateusz Paszkowski and Maciej Lewicki, Latvia’s Kristaps Smits and Mihails Samoilovs and Germany’s Julius Thole and Lukas Pfretzschner.
Action continues in Nanjing on 14 July when the quarterfinal places will decided.
