Nummerdor and Schuil get back their best play to defeat second-seeded Fijalek and Prudel
bron: www.cev.lu (vanavond een Nederlands verslag van de hele wedstrijddag)
Kristiansand, Norway, August 13, 2011. The Netherlands are – together with Switzerland – the only country that qualified 4 pairs for the eighth-finals of the men’s tournament. This definitely speaks for the great work which is being performed there and also for the depth of the Dutch movement.
Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil did not have a memorable season so far but when it comes to the European Championship Final, the “Oranjes” get magically back their best play and this morning they definitely re-asserted their ambitions to defend the crown they have been seizing for the last three consecutive years. They actually played a splendid game to edge – in straight sets, and that was quite a surprise – the second-seeded pair here in Kristiansand, Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel of Poland (21-16, 21-18). Nummerdor and Schuil clipped the deciding break by the mid of the opening set and although their opponents clawed back to -1 (16:15), after a time-out they got back momentum to finish it off with a margin of 5. The score stayed extremely tight in the second set (11:11), before the Dutch guys opened a gap of two, three points with great defense, solid attacks and the always impressive blocks of Richard Schuil. At 19:15 it looked like the fate of the game was already determined, but the Poles did not bury their hatchet, stormed back with a 3:1 mini break and the “Oranjes” asked for a time-out in an attempt to stop this late comeback of Poland’s most decorated duo. It worked perfectly, as the titleholders sealed the game with their next match ball to qualify for the 4th finals where they will play Germany’s David Klemperer and Eric Koreng.
Although Nummerdor and Schuil are still the most known Dutch duo, there is a “nouvelle vague” that is gradually climbing up the international elite, with youngsters Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen stretching their incredible winning streak here in Kristiansand as they opened the program on the centre court with a speedy 2:0 win (21-17, 21-15) to edge Denmark’s Anders Lund Hoyer and Bo Soderberg. Brouwer/Meeuwsen got to Norway after winning the CEV Satellite this past Sunday in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and their first European campaign has already exceeded even the highest expectations of the Dutch crew.
Anyway, the Norwegian fans were only waiting for their heroes, Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr, to get back in action as the sole home pair still in contention for European glory was supposed to cope with a very demanding challenge playing Switzerland’s Patrick Heuscher and Jefferson Bellaguarda for a spot among the top 8 in Europe. The organizers had distributed tons of Norwegian flags to the public but it was not meant to be a lucky day for the local guys. Jefferson Bellaguarda towered with his great spikes and the experience of Patrick Heuscher was also to be seen; although these two players have teamed up only before the start of the 2011 season, their synergy is already impressive and their leadership was never in danger, with the match ending up in a clear 2:0 win for the Swiss pair (21-15, 21-18). Skarlund and Spinnangr did never find the right consistency to stand the pressure coming from the other side of the net and even the “Heia Norge!” choruses of their fans could not help stop the impressive show of strength displayed by Heuscher and “Bella”.
Europe’s Beach Volleyball powerhouse, Germany, qualified all of its three duos for the 4th finals after Klemperer/Koreng were joined by 2009 World champions Brink/Reckermann, who did not have much trouble to cruise past Heyer/Chevallier of Switzerland (21-12, 21-14), and Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik who went through a real marathon before coming out on top of their game with another emerging Dutch pair, Jon Stiekema and Christiaan Varenhorst (23-25, 21-15, 17-15).