Ukraine’s Babich & Gordieiev upset top men’s qualifying seeds at Sochi Open

Sochi, Russia, May 3, 2016 – Mykola Babich and Iaroslav Gordieiev had to work “overtime” twice here Tuesday at the US$150,000 Sochi Open, but the Ukrainian pair posted a pair of wins to advance from the qualifier to the Main Draw for this week’s FIVB World Tour at the Black Sea coastal resort.

Seeded 16th in the qualifier, Babich and Gordieiev posted a 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-11) win in 48 minutes over top-seeded Maciej Kosiak and Maciej Rudol of Poland to lead eight teams from the qualifier into Wednesday’s opening Main Draw rounds where pool play will be featured on the four Beach Volleyball courts at the Sport Inn.

ADVANCEMENT

To gain a spot in the final qualifying round Tuesday, Babich and Gordieiev opened play Tuesday with a come-from-behind win over 17th-seeded Ingars Ivanovs and Ruslans Sorokins of Latvia with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-17, 15-12) win in 46 minutes.

It is the second time in the last eight months that Babich and Gordieiev have qualified for a FIVB World Tour event in Sochi as the Ukrainians defeated a team from Austria at last September’s event at the Sport Inn.  With the Sochi Open being Babich and Iaroslav’s third FIVB World Tour event together, the pair now has a 3-1 qualifying record with all four matches being three-setters.

61 & 7

While the 36-year old Babich is playing in …

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