Three teams in the maindraw

Austria’s beach duos attack in Mexico

Martin Ermacora (left) celebrated his 30th birthday with Philipp Waller by making it through to the main round.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Let's go! Three Austrian beach volleyball duos will be competing in the main competition of the Challenge tournament in Guadalajara from Friday evening (CET). In addition to the Klinger sisters, Julian Hörl/Alex Horst and Martin Ermacora/Philipp Waller also want to shine in Mexico. And on a special occasion.

Martin Ermacora and his partner Philipp Waller entered the main competition of the World Tour tournament in western Mexico on his 30th birthday. "This is the best present," said the duo, who train at the MaXX Sports Center in Floridsdorf, after beating Elazar/Cuzmiciov (Israel) 21:16, 21:17 in the second qualifying round. At 32 degrees, the fourth-placed team from Saquarema played a very confident sideout with many breaks. "But you can really feel 1,500 meters above sea level," said Ermacora. "I'm delighted that we're back in the main competition."

Alex Horst (right) attacks with Julian Hörl.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Julian Hörl/Alex Horst will also play there. The duo, seeded ninth, are also going into the start with a good feeling, having recently secured their Olympic ticket in Saquarema by reaching the quarter-finals. What's more, the ÖVV talents Laurenz Leitner/Paul Pascariuc have now bent the Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt, who are direct competitors for Hörl/Horst for Paris 2024, at the qualifying start. However, Leitner/Pascariuc were eliminated in the second round, as were Seidl/Pristauz.

The Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja slipped into the Guadalajara maindraw, sparing themselves qualification at a Challenge tournament for the first time. "We'll give it our all again," they said. "We've improved a lot over the winter, both in terms of our play and mentally." In any case, the group stage will feature three duos from the Austrian win2day national team.