Hamburg, Germany, June 10, 2016 - After two days of pool play to eliminate 16 totals teams from the men’s and women’s competition at the US$800,000 smart Major Hamburg, another 36 pairs will be sent packing here Friday from the FIVB World Tour event at the Am Rothenbaum stadium.
One of the first-round elimination matches Friday will be an All-German affair with Olympic impact as Marcus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen meet compatriots Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik. Both teams are currently tied for the No. 14 spot on the provisional Rio 2016 Olympic qualifying list and are being chased for their Copacabana beach chairs by pairs from Mexico and Canada.
Kay Matysik (left) and Jonathan Erdmann of Germany
The five other opening matches Friday will also have Olympic implications for the Rio 2016 Summer Games as pairs Canada, Germany, Mexico, Russia and Vanuatu could be eliminated for Copacabana consideration via the allotted 15 spots per gender from the FIVB World Tour, excluding Brazilians with a maximum of two teams per country. Here are the teams in jeopardy of losing their chance to qualify for Rio Olympics, via the FIVB World Tour.
• Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler of Germany, who are competing with compatriots Karla Borger/Britta Buthe for their country’s second Olympic berth, versus. Melissa Humana-Paredes/Taylor Pischke of Canada.
• Evgeniya Ukolova/Ekaterina Birlova of Russia, who are chasing teams from Argentina and China for the last two world tour berths, versus Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth of Italy.
• Linline Matauatu/Miller Pata of Vanuatu, who are chasing teams from Argentina and China for the last two world tour berths, versus Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland.
• Juan Virgen/Lombardo Ontiveros of Mexico, who are chasing teams from Germany for the last two world tour berths, versus Alvaro Filho/Vitor Felipe of Brazil.
• Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter of Canada, who are chasing teams from Germany for the last two world tour berths, versus Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst of The Netherlands.
The women’s “bubble” teams on the FIVB World Tour’s Rio ranking list playing “major” matches Friday are:
• Fan Wang/Yuan Yue of China, who are No. 14 on the Rio ranking list, versus Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands
• Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug, who are No. 15 on the Rio ranking list, of Argentina versus Brooke Sweat/Lauren Fendrick of the United States.
The second- and third-place finishers from each smart Major Hamburg pool will play first-round elimination matches Friday with the losers placing 17th. The group winners enjoy a first-round “bye” Friday along with being guaranteed a ninth-place in the smart Major Hamburg.
Here are the pool winners from Thursday with Beach Volleyball power Brazil claiming five group crowns, including four in the women’s competition. Host Germany had two women’s teams topping groups along with pairs from Australia and Canada. Seven different countries were pool winners on the men’s side, including two from the United States, and one each from Brazil, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Spain.
Women
• Pool A - Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany
• Pool B - Larissa Franca/Talita Antunes of Brazil
• Pool C - Liliane Maestrini/Maria Antonelli of Brazil
• Pool D - Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas of Brazil
• Pool E - Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley of Canada
• Pool F - Juliana Felisberta/Taiana Lima of Brazil
• Pool G - Karla Borger/Britta Buthe of Germany
• Pool H - Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy of Australia
Men
• Pool A - Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil
• Pool B - Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel of Poland
• Pool C - Nick Lucena/Phil Dalhausser of the United States
• Pool D - Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands.
• Pool E - Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia
• Pool F - Jake Gibb/Casey/Patterson of the United States
• Pool G - Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza of Latvia
• Pool H - Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira of Spain
