A1 Vienna Beach Major
- Danube Island; Vienna, Austria
- Aug. 1-5, 2018
- A1 Beach App
- Streaming Video
- Qualification Schedule/Results
- Main Draw Schedule/Results
- Preview
The women played two rounds of modified pool play with 24 teams moving on to the first knockout round on Thursday. Eight pool winners were crowned, each earning a bye to elimination Round 2.
After pool play, No. 2 seed Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson of Canada and No. 8 Katharina Schutzenhofer/Lena Plesiutschnig of Austria are out of the competition after going 0-2 in their respective pools. Neither team won a single set in pool play before making their tournament exits. It was just the second time in 18 World Tour events that the Canadians failed to register a single win.
The eight pool title winners were:
- Pool A: Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink (Netherlands)
- Pool B: Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toh (Italy)
- Pool C: Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa (Brazil)
- Pool D: Kelly Claes/Brittany Hochevar (USA)
- Pool E: Lauren Fendrick/Sarah Sponcil (USA)
- Pool F: Kinga Kolosinska/Katarzyna Kociolek (Poland)
- Pool G: Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado (Brazil)
- Pool H: Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho del Solar (Australia)
No. 17 Keizer/Meppelink pulled off the upset of the tournament so far, downing No. 1 overall seed Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan of Canada 24-22, 21-14 to claim the Pool A title at 2-0.
Keizer/Meppelink, No. 31 seed Menegatti/Orsi Toth and Agatha/Duda pool play winners each went 2-0 in sweeps. The remainder of the pool winners went to tiebreak at least once.
No. 13 Claes/Hochevar went three sets in both of their Pool D wins, first rallying past Czech duo Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova (19-21, 21-14, 15-13) and then hanging on for a tiebreak win over Brazil’s Barbara Seixas de Freitas/Fernanda Alves (21-18, 21-23, 15-13).
Qualifiers Fendrick/Sponcil played a three setter in Pool E finale against Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger/Kim Behrens 21-23, 23-21, 16-14.
No. 10 Maria Antonelli/Carol went the distance twice en route to the Pool G crown, besting Riikka Lehtonen/Niina Ahtiainen (21-16, 18-21, 15-13) and rallying past Czech pair Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (19-21, 21-16, 15-11).
No. 9 Artacho del Solar/Clancy also had to play through two three-setters to take Pool H and earn a pass to the second elimination round. The Aussies defeated Finland’s Taru Lahti-Liukkonen/Anniina Parkkinen and Latvia’s Anastasija Kravcenoka/Tina Graudina.
Sixth-seeded Americans Alix Klineman/April Ross won their tournament opener over Canada’s Taylor Pischke/Jamie Lynn Broder (19-21, 21-12, 15-8) before being edged by Kolosinska/Kociolek (21-17, 15-21, 15-12) in the Pool F title match.
No. 17 Americans Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman went 1-1 in Pool A play, falling to Meppelink/Keizer, but rebounding with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Austria’s Nadine Strauss/Franziska Friedl.
No. 14 Sara Hughes/Summer Ross also will be playing in Knockout Round 1 after finishing second in Pool C, topping Dutch pair Joy Stubbe/Marleen Van Iersel before falling to Agatha/Duda.
With the Round 1 matches set, if Larsen/Stockman advance against Swiss duo Tanja Huberli/Nina Betschart, they will face countrywomen Claes/Hochevar on Friday. If Klineman/Ross top Lahti/Parkkinen, they will take on Fendrick/Sponcil. Hughes/Ross would play Menegati/Orsi Toth with a Round 1 victory.
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