The German beach volleyball teams made a successful start to the World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
After the victories of Laura Ludwig/Louisa Lippmann and Sandra Ittlinger/Karla Borger, the only German men’s duo Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler followed up on Saturday. The German champions from Hamburg won 21:7, 21:13 against the Chileans Noe Aravena/Vicente Orlando Droguett Torrealba.
Previously, Olympic champion Laura Ludwig and her partner Louisa Lippmann had little trouble in their first group game on Friday (local time) against the Japanese Miki Ishii and Sayaka Mizoe to score 21:12, 21:10.
“It all felt a bit slow, but it’s amazing that we were able to pull it off,” said European Championship third-placed Ludwig, referring to the special circumstances. The World Cup games take place at an altitude of around 2,200 meters.
Labor victory
Sandra Ittlinger and Karla Borger, who are training in Stuttgart, had to do more until they beat the Brazilians Agatha and Rebecca 21:18, 18:21, 15:12 at the start. “It was a tough fight, you have to be honest, a tough challenge here. But we are so happy that we brought the thing home,” said Ittlinger.
In addition to Hamburg’s Ludwig and Lippmann and Ittlinger/Borger, last year’s World Cup bronze medalists and German champions Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann are in the women’s main field. They played their first game on Saturday (10:30 p.m. CEST).
The World Cup is not just about the title. The world champions automatically qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. 48 teams each for women and men will play for the medals.