truebluefan

Talk in here

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Every Beach Volleyball pro has his favourite spot where he likes to plough through the sand more than anywhere else in the world. Most of the time it is the site of their greatest success or the best atmosphere. Okka Rau, German national star, revealed her favourite spot as a Beach Volleyball player this week at a press conference in Hamburg: “The Rathausmarkt in Hamburg is my favourite spot to play.” No wonder: She won gold there at the German Masters with her partner Stephanie Pohl in 2006 and silver there last year. Okka Rau will soon again be able to play for attractive prize money and ranking list points in front of the historic setting because the Rathausmarkt is the venue for this year’s NESTEA European Championship Final from 10-13 July. The highest ranked European Beach Volleyball tournament series will be in the Hanseatic city for the third time. This time 32 men’s and women’s teams will be fighting for the European championship crowns and qualification points for the Olympic games in Beijing. Whether Pohl/Rau will qualify for the final in Hamburg is still unclear: Every point is highly contested in the tough competition among the German teams. Hinnerk Femerling, Managing Director Operations at Global Sports Marketing, the Zurich based agency that has organised and marketed the tour over the past six years even thinks “the strong national and international competition makes the NESTEA European Championship Final the turning point of every team’s season: Whoever cheers in Hamburg will be going to Beijing.”

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Martin Laciga has travelled the world. There is a hardly a venue on the international Beach Volleyball tournament calendar where he has not ploughed through the sand at least once. But an event in front of your home fans is always something special. “That gives me another motivational boost”, the 33 year-old says. Laciga will again be enjoying this feeling from May 22-25 when the NESTEA European Championship Tour stops off in Lucerne for the Swiss Masters. Martin Laciga will play in the 16-team main draw with his partner Jan Schnider (25). In the following interview Laciga reveals what goals he has set for his upcoming home game.

Interview

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

It only took two matches for Shauna Mullin to sit along one of the side courts at the Swiss Masters in Lucerne with a peevish look on her face. Once again her hopes of advancing to the main draw on the NESTEA European Championship Tour with her partner Zara Dampney were short lived. Shauna Mullin and Tara Dampney are two Beach Volleyball pros from Britain who appeared on the international stage two years ago with big plans. So far they have not advanced passed a single qualification round. In the stadium on the Bühlermatte along Lake Lucerne Mullin/Dampney were eliminated after a two-set loss to Russia’s Khomkyakova/Yarzutkina. Shauna Mullin kept her head up despite the loss: “We still have to practice a lot and need competitions like these to reach our goal.” And Mullin/Dampney’s goal is no smaller than participating in the Olympic games on their home turf in London in 2012.

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

It is always nice to see old friends again – even if it is only once a year. The Swiss Masters in Lucerne is an old friend of the NESTEA European Championship Tour. This year marks the fourth consecutive time Europe’s highest ranking tournament series will stop off in the city on Lake Lucerne and the event has become a popular date for the athletes on the tour. The Swiss stars Patrick Heuscher and Sascha Heyer’s website reads: “What a great setting – the Pilatus peak and Lake Lucerne. Is there a more beautiful spot for Beach Volleyball? The Swiss Masters takes place right next to the Lido where the first Swiss national championships of Beach Volleyball were held in 1992.”

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

In the days when Jan Schnider played on the junior circuit, the Swiss Beach Volleyball pro says, he had to look up the stars of the scene. The big names for him back then were Martin Laciga, Sascha Heyer and Patrick Heuscher. „They were the world’s elite back then”, Jan Schnider says. And all of them decorated with numerous international titles. For example Martin Laciga: Two fifth-place finishes at the Olympic games, silver medallist at the World Championships, three-time European champion. Or Sascha Heyer: Silver medallist at the World Championships, European champion. Or Patrick Heuscher: Olympic bronze medallist 2004. In May 2008 Jan Schnider’s worldview has changed quite a bit. At age 25 he is still younger than Laciga (33), Heyer (35) and Heuscher (31). But Schnider has discarded his respectful reverence for the heroes of his youth: „Today we all play on the same level.”

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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

Lucerne, 24 May 2008: The print on his black cap revealed whom the older man with the wide grin was rooting for. The cap read: „Fan Club Kuhn/Schwer” – the man’s Beach Volleyball heart therefore belongs to the local heroes Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer. But that was not the only reason because the person wearing the cap was Hans-Peter Schwer and a few minutes before he had witnessed his daughter and her partner advance to the semi-finals of the Swiss Masters of the NESTEA European Championship Tour in Lucerne. The victory caused Hans-Peter Schwer to make an optimistic prognosis: „Now our fan club will continue to grow.” So far the club has 120 members and most of them were seated in the stands around centre court on the Lido along the Bühlermatte.



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UFC 112: Invincible

truebluefan

They have come to Lake Lucerne three times so far and taken home a gold medal every time. The Greek duo Vassiliki Karadassiou and Vassiliki Arvanity have won the Swiss Masters of the NESTEA European Championship Tour in Lucerne once again. They beat the local heroes Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer in straight sets (21:17, 21:17) winning 600 ranking list points and 11,000 Euros in prize money along the way. „We came to Lucerne to finish off our hat trick”, Vassiliki Arvanity had boldly declared before the final. The Greek top team already won the Swiss Masters in 2005 and 2006. They also won their first title against Kuhn/Schwer, who were happy with their performance despite the loss in the final on Sunday. „We really played very well in front of our home fans”, the Lucerne native Simone Kuhn said. The Swiss duo will take home 540 points and 7,500 Euros in prize money. They had previously sent the Greek duo into the loser’s round with a third round two-set victory, but the veterans made their way to the final anyway.


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UFC 112: Invincible