At the Beach Volleyball World Cup in Mexico, the hope of a German medal was dashed. The two remaining duos Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler and Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann lost their round of 16 early Friday morning (CEST).
Both teams therefore missed the quarter-finals. After Laura Ludwig/Louisa Lippmann and Karla Borger/Sandra Ittlinger were eliminated in the round of 32 the day before, the dream of a German podium finish at the World Championships is over. It is the worst German performance at a World Cup in 20 years.
Ehlers/Wickler lose surprisingly clearly
In the men’s category, Ehlers and Wickler from ETV Hamburg, who were the only men’s team from the German Volleyball Association (DVV) to take part in the title fights, surprisingly lost to the Polish world number 20. Michal Bryl/Bartosz Losiak with 0:2 (18:21, 16:21). In the women’s category, Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann lost in the round of 16 to the Brazilians Taina/Victoria 1:2 (19:21, 24:22, 13:15).
“It’s a shame that we couldn’t live up to our performances from the previous games,” said Wickler in the NDR interview. And Ehlers, who was particularly annoyed by the high error rate in the reception and struggled with his attacking shots, said: “The disappointment is huge. I don’t know how many balls I hit into the net or out of bounds.”
The German champions had previously remained without losing a set in the tournament, but now they were eliminated. “It’s extremely bitter,” said Wickler, “but we know that we are on the right track towards the 2024 Olympics. It looks very good that we will qualify.” Until the games in Paris, the duo “will have the conviction in such games.”
Müller/Tillmann with a great fight
The tournament also ended on Friday night for the women’s duo Müller/Tillmann, who, like Ehlers/Wickler, won the German championship title in Timmendorfer Strand at the beginning of September. “Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough. The result of the game says it all,” said Tillmann, alluding to the extremely close run.
Each set was decided by two points. “We fought until the end, we can be proud of that.” In the group phase, the third-placed team from the 2022 World Cup in Rome defeated the South Americans.
For the first time since 2003 there was no German duo in the World Cup quarter-finals
The last time that no German duo reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup was in Rio de Janeiro in 2003. In the nine World Championships since then, DVV teams have won one gold, one silver and one bronze for women and one gold, one silver and three bronze for men.
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Sports current | Oct 13, 2023 | 8:17 a.m
