Beach volleyball
Austria’s beach volleyball players will tackle the European Nations Cup in Madrid from Monday. The competition, which will be held in three phases until June next year, is the second qualification track for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris alongside the Pro Tour rankings. But only the winning nation of the final tournament is in France.
In Spain, Robin Seidl plays with his new standard partner Moritz Pristauz, the other duo of the Austrian Volleyball Association (ÖVV) is made up of Philipp Waller and Julian Hörl because Martin Ermacora and Alexander Horst are not playing. The quartet have to face hosts Spain with top duo Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira as well as Slovenia, Lithuania and Croatia on Monday and Tuesday. Only the group winner advances to the next phase scheduled for autumn.
Head coach Martin Olejnak sees only the Croatians as true underdogs. “The other nations come with players who have international experience.” The Slovakian sees his team’s advantage in the balance. “That’s where I see our strength.” Every country duel consists of at least two games. If it is 1:1, a “golden set” must bring the decision. Unlike on the Pro Tour, coaching is allowed.
Women play in Hungary in June
The ÖVV women without Lena Plesiutschnig, who was absent for a long time with an Achilles tendon injury, only played against Hungary, Italy, England and Croatia in Budapest in mid-June.
Should the Austrian teams not succeed in climbing, there would still be a chance for one of the 17 tickets via the Olympic ranking. The twelve best Pro Tour results will be included in the ranking up to June 2024. The two winning teams at the World Cup in Mexico in October will receive two more starting places.