Glenzke/Grossner Upset World, Olympic Champions in Euro Quarterfinals

2017 EUROPEAN BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Men’s Draw

• August 16th-20th, 2017
• Jurmala, Latvia
• Pool Standings
• Tournament Central

The magical major run of Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst came to an end on Saturday in Jurmala.

The veteran pair, who entered the tournament as two-time defending European, defending Olympic, and defending World Champions, fell in the quarterfinals to their German teammates Nadja Glenzke and Julia Grossner.

Thanks to a win by top-seeded Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude in the other half of the bracket, however, the powerhouse German program will still have two pairs in Sunday’s semifinals. Given that they’re on opposite sides of the bracket, Germany does have a chance at an all-German final for the 3rd time in tournament history (2003 and 2010).

That path is a much more interesting one for 9th-seeded pair Glenzke/Grossner, ironically. In their semi-final, they’ll play Poland’s Kinga Kolosinska/Jagoda Gruszczynksa, who have advanced via a relatively easy path that thus far has seen them beat just 1 team seeded higher than 12th.

Poetically, the one exception came in the pool play round where Kolosinska/Gruszczynska beat Glenzke/Grossner 2-0 (21-16, 21-15). The Germans will look for revenge in the semi-final.

Laboureur/Sude advanced via a 2-0 win that eliminated the lone remaining home pair from Latvia – Graudina/Kravcenoka. Their opponents in the semi-final will be Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova of the Czech Republic – the #5 seeds in the tournament. The two pairs have split their 4 matches all-time in World Tour and European Tour play in their careers. That includes a win for each side this year – Laboureur/Sude beat the Czechs in the semi-finals of the Baden, Austria tournament in June, but Kolocova/Kvapilova won the pool play matchup at the Porec Major a week later.