Czech Pluses & Swiss Misses highlight Antalya Open women’s play

Antalya, Turkey, May 11, 2016 – After staging last October’s inaugural Antalya Open in the “rainy and drizzly” weather conditions, the first two days of play in the US$150,000 has definitely been a “plus” with the players on the FIVB World Tour with matches on both the BeachPark and Akdeniz University courts.

With the women’s Main Draw being played solely here Wednesday on the three BeachPark courts near the shoreline of this southern Mediterranean resort region known as the Turquoise Coast for its blue waters, the men’s qualifier was played on the university courts with eight pairs advancing to the “money” rounds in the Antalya Open.

Along with the weather, one of the pluses Wednesday for the women was the two match wins by defending Antalya Open champions Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic.  Seeded 14th in the Main draw, Hermannova and Slukova extended their winning streak in this event to nine by defeating pairs from Russia and Sweden Wednesday in Pool C.

Hermannova and Slukova scored a 2-0 (26-24, 25-23) win in 50 minutes in their first match Wednesday over 19th-seeded Yulia Abalakina/Ekaterina Syrtseva of Russia before out-lasting 30th-seeded Karin Lundqvist/Anne Lie Rininsland of Sweden 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-7) in 46 minutes.   The Czech tandem ends pool play Thursday against third-seeded Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska of Poland, who lost to the Russians after defeating the Swedes.

A miss Wednesday was a pool play setback for fifth-seeded Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland, who won last week’s Sochi Open.  In their losing 2-0 (27-25, 21-15) in 37 minutes to 21st-seeded Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni of Greece, the Swiss saw their ninth-match FIVB World Tour winning streak snap.

Heidrich and Zumkehr opened play Wednesday with a 2-1 (22-24, 21-13, 15-12) win in …

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