FIVB Samsun One Star
- Samsun, Turkey
- July 26-29, 2018
- Schedule/Results
Italy’s Carolina Ferraris/Francesca Michieletto made their way from the qualifiers to the top of the podium at the Samsun One Star, while eighth-seeded Czech duo Jindrich Weiss/Donovan Dzavoronok won gold in their opening tournament as a pair.
Thirteenth seeded Ferraris/Michieletto bested top seeded Austrians Eva Freiberger/Valerie Teufl in tiebreak (21-19, 19-21, 15-11) for their first ever FIVB World Tour medal since pairing up in July 2017.
“I am so happy that we won the gold medal,” Michieletto said. “It feels amazing! We did not expect this result. Many thanks to all those who have been supporting us! It was an amazing experience to play in front of the Turkish fans.”
The Italians began their stay in Samsun with a 21-12, 21-17 victory over Japan’s Hiroko Matsuyama/Marie Wada in qualifying. Once in the main draw, the pair swept Turkey’s Merve Celebi/Muge Ocakci (24-22, 21-9) and were outlasted by Sweden’s No. 5 Camilla Nilsson/Sofia Ogren in tiebreak (19-21, 21-16, 15-11) in Pool D.
Ferraris/Michieletto rebounded with a 21-15, 21-14 win over Turkey’s Burcu Atasoy/Ebru Karayilan in the Round of 12 and a sweep of Czech pair Karolina Rehackova/Marie-Sara Stochlova in the quarterfinals. The semifinals brought a rematch with Nilsson/Ogren, and this time it was the Italians who came out on top in tiebreak (19-21, 21-16, 15-12).
Freiberger/Teufl split their Pool A matches, winning via sweep and falling in tiebreak. A 21-19, 16-21, 17-15 victory over Slovenia’s Nina Lovsin/Tjasa Kotnik in the Round of 12 and another tiebreak win over Czech pair Sara Olivova/Tereza Pluharova put the duo in the semifinals. A rematch with Nicole Dostalova/Anna Komarkova, who beat the team in tiebreak in Pool A (21-11, 14-21, 15-11), ended in a 21-16, 21-14 sweep to put them in the finals.
The runnerup finish was the Austrians’ best as a pairing in four FIVB tournament showings ahead of fifth-place efforts at the Daegu One Star (July 15) and Porec One Star (July 8).
Nilsson/Ogren did not leave empty handed, wrapping up the tournament with the bronze medal with a tiebreak victory over No. 9 seed Dostalova/Komarkova (15-21, 21-12, 15-10).
On the men’s side, Weiss/Dzavoronok wrapped up the title with a sweep of third-seeded countrymen Marcel Myslivecek/Martin Pihera (21-11, 21-18).
Marcel Myslivecek and Martin Pihera – Czech Republic – Samsun gold
Weiss/Dzavoronok won Pool A with sweeps of Turkey’s Dundar Yildirim/Yasin Baysal (21-11, 21-8) and Iran’s Rahman Raoufi/Abolhamed Mirzaali (23-21, 21-12) to earn a pass to the quarterfinals. The Czechs then blew past Serbia’s Djordje Klasnic/Marko Plavsic 21-15, 21-14 and downed Austria’s No. 5 Thomas Kunert/Peter Eglseer (21-15, 21-19) to reach the final.
No. 3 seed Myslivecek/Pihera made the title match after splitting Pool C matches and rebounding with a Round of 12 sweep of Hungary’s Botond Olah/Balazs Benko (21-14, 21-18). The quarterfinals brought a tiebreak win over Iran’s Bahman Salemiinjehboroun/Arash Vakili (21-17, 19-21, 15-13). In the semifinals, the pair won via sweep, but had to make their way past Dutch duo Stefan Boermans/Casper Haanappel 32-30 in Set 2.
The runnerup finish gave Myslivecek/Pihera their first ever FIVB Tour medal.
No. 16 Boermans/Haanappel won 21-14, 22-20 in the bronze medal match against Kunert/Eglseer.
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