KISH ISLAND THREE STAR
- Kish Marine Recreation Sports Complex; Kish Island, Iran
- Feb. 20-24, 2018
- Schedule/Results
It will be an all-European podium at the Kish Island Three-Star as teams from Poland, Austria, Germany and Latvia advanced to the semifinals with wins the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals on Friday.
Germans Alexander Walkenhorst and Sven Winter, the last remaining team from the qualifying round, moved into medal contention with wins over Italy’s Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta and Austria’s Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz. The duo is playing in its first FIVB World Tour event after three smaller tournaments in April and May 2017.
Top seeded Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs of Latvia blazed through a pair of straight set victories, topping Maxime Thiercy/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat of France and Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis of Lithuania. Plavins and Tocs will be looking for their second gold of the 2018 season, following their success at the Hague.
Third seeded Mariusz Prudel and Jakub Szalankiwicz of Poland were one of six teams to make it through a three-set match in the Round of 16, topping qualifiers Olivier Barthelemy/Romain Di Giantommaso of France. A 21-13, 21-17 win over Italians Alex Ranghieri/Marco Caminati put the duo in the final four. Prudel/Szalankiwicz are in just third second FIVB tournament together, following a fifth-place showing at the Hague in January.
Rounding out the semis are No. 19 seed Julian Horl and Tobias Winter of Austria, who moved past Dirk Boehle/Steven Van De Velde of the Netherlands in a three-set affair and their own countrymen Christoph Dressler/Robin Seidl. The pair has already achieved its best ever FIVB finish, topping a ninth-place finish at the Aalsmeer One-Star last year.
Semifinals are set to begin at 12:30 a.m. ET with Plavins/Tocs facing Horl/Winter. Prudel/Szalankiewicz will take on Walkenhorst/Winter at 1:30 a.m. ET Saturday. The third place match will follow at 5 am. and the gold medal match is slated to be played at 6 a.m.
Quarterfinals
Martins Plavins/Edgars Toc (Latvia) def. Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis (Lithuania) 21-11, 21-16
Julian Horl/Tobias Winter (Austria) def. Christoph Dressler/Robin Seidl (Austria) 21-19, 21-18
Mariusz Prudel/Jakub Szalankiewicz (Poland) def. Alex Ranghieri/Marco Caminati (Italy) 21-13, 21-17
Alexander Walkenhorst/Sven Winter (Germany) def. Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz (Austria) 21-18, 21-14
Round of 16
Martins Plavins/Edgars Toc (Latvia) def. Maxime Thiercy/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat (France) 21-16, 21-14
Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis (Lithuania) def. Haralds Regza/Kristaps Smits (Latvia) 21-18, 21-16
Christoph Dressler/Robin Seidl (Austria) def. Ade Rachmawan Candra/Mohamma Ashfiya (Indonesia)
Julian Horl/Tobias Winter (Austria) def. Dirk Boehle/Steven Van De Velde (Netherlands)
Mariusz Prudel/Jakub Szalankiewicz (Poland) def. Olivier Barthelemy/Romain Di Giantommaso (France)
Alex Ranghieri/Marco Caminati (Italy) def. Nils Ehlers/Lorenz Schumann (Germany)
Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz (Austria) def. Konstantin Semenov/Ilya Leshukov (Russia)
Alexander Walkenhorst/Sven Winter (Germany) def. Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta (Italy)
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