Graudiņa and Samoilova open Hamburg tournament with win over hosts
World beach volleyball champions Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova beat German pair Annalena Grüne and Janne Uhl 21-17, 21-19 in their opening match in Hamburg.
Latvia's top beach volleyball duo Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova have started the Hamburg tournament with a victory. In their first Group C match, the world champions defeated the German team of Annalena Grüne and Janne Uhl in straight sets, 21-17, 21-19.
The opening set saw the Latvians recover from 6-10, with Graudiņa contributing a block and Samoilova an ace to level the score. They then took control and closed the set at 21-17. The second set followed a similar script, as Graudiņa/Samoilova fell behind 1-5 but fought back with two consecutive aces from Graudiņa to make it 5-5. Later, the world champions moved ahead, and although the Germans repeatedly pulled level, a long final rally ended with the Latvian pair sealing the set 21-19.
Seeded third in Hamburg, Graudiņa/Samoilova are competing in Group C alongside Germany's Grüne/Uhl, the American pair Molly Shaw and Molly Phillips, and Swiss duo Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli. Two other Latvian men's teams are also taking part in the tournament: Pļaviņš/Fokerots and Rinkevičs/Bedrītis, both with group-stage matches ahead.
The European Beach Volleyball Championship is scheduled to begin on August 12 in Stare Jabłonki, with three Latvian pairs set to compete.
