Big names are entering the Spanish Masters
A look back to the 2007 NESTEA European Championships Final in Valencia: the German duo consisting of Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig is standing on the podium celebrating their accomplishment, a silver medal, after they lost the final match to Greece’s Vassiliki Karadassiou and Vassiliki Arvanity.
And now looking ahead: last year’s silver medalists Goller/Ludwig are now supposed to face their compatriots Helke Claasen/Antje Röder (5th ranked at last year’s European Championships) and Geeske Banck/Anja Günther for entering the main draw of the Spanish Masters, which serves as the first leg of the 2008 NESTEA European Championship Tour.
Previous results do not count anymore, this is a completely new season and a tough battle is going to start for both ranking points and prize money.
The Goller/Ludwig case demonstrates that it is really hard nowadays to reach the top of the European Beach Volleyball scene and to stay there. Final registration lists have been released and Europe's complete crème de la crème has signed up for the kick-off event of this season to be staged on the Spanish holiday island of Grand Canary.
Sixteen men's and women's teams each will enter the main draw of the Spanish
Masters, which features a 100,000 € prize money. Twelve men's and women's teams already secured their passes according to the European rankings. The final four teams will be determined by the outcome of the qualification tournament.
The schedule sounds as follows:
Wednesday, 16 April:
Country Quota Play-Off Men/Women
Thursday, 17 April:
Qualification tournament Men/Women (Start: 8 a.m.)
Friday, 18 April:
Main Draw Men/Women (Start: 9 a.m.)
Saturday, 19 April:
Main Draw Men/Women (Start: 9 a.m.)
Semi-Finals Women (Start: 3 p.m.)
Semi-Finals Men (Start: 5 p.m.)
Sunday, 20 April:
Medal Matches Women (Start: 11 a.m.)
Medal Matches Men (Start: 1 p.m.)
The Spanish Masters is the kick-off event of the 2008 NESTEA Tour featuring a total of seven tournaments. The event on the Playa del Ingles will be followed by the Austrian Masters in St. Pölten (Austria) from 9-12 May, the Swiss Masters in Lucerne (Switzerland) from 22-25 May, the Dutch Masters in The Hague (Netherlands) from 29 May-1 June leading up to the NESTEA European Championship Final in Hamburg (Germany) from 10-13 July. The early date of this year’s European Championship final is due to the
fact that simultaneously the Olympic Qualification is also on the way and teams participating to the European Championship can collect decisive points for securing their qualification to the Beijing Summer Olympics.
After the Games, there are two more tournaments for the NESTEA European Championship Tour, and namely the English Masters in Blackpool (England) from 11-14 September and the grand finale at the Russian Masters in Sochi (Russia) from 18-21 September. These final two tournaments will decide which of the 8 best men's and women's teams will take home two smart fortwo in addition to the prize money. Both venues are new additions to the tour calendar.
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