New career high

Sister duo climbs to the top of the world rankings in no time at all

The Klinger sisters Dorina (left) and Ronja will compete one last time this season.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

End of the season under palm trees! From Thursday, the beach volleyball sisters Ronja and Dorina Klinger will be in action once again - in their "second home" Brazil, where they also have special fingers crossed. But no matter how the elite tournament turns out, nobody can take their career high away from them.

A second home in Brazil! The Frauental beach volleyball sisters Ronja and Dorina Klinger have felt it by now. "That's right," laughs Ronja, "We've been here in Rio de Janeiro for almost a month now. This is already our second training location after Vienna." Before that, however, the duo will have to mobilize all their strength once again from Thursday, when the last tournament of the season takes place on the Copacabana.

"Finally a big tournament at the place where we've trained so hard for the last five years," the duo says, beaming in the sun. They are seeded in the main competition at the elite event. "We're here so often that we've already made some friends. They come to cheer us on." Just like mom Tanja, who decided to take a trip across the Atlantic to see her girls.

84 places made up
Last year, the Klinger sisters didn't even dare to think about being seeded in the main competition at an elite tournament. Now it's almost routine. Tellingly, the Styrians were ranked 103rd in the world rankings at the start of 2023, 57th at the start of this year and the duo are currently ranked 19th!

Ronja (right) and Dorina Klinger have every reason to shout out their joy.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"This reflects our hard work and total passion. We really want this and we're putting everything into it," said the duo jubilantly about their best placing ever. "It's really cool to see how you can develop and how a process like this happens. Two years ago, we would never have expected this."

"Fits like a lid to a pot"
One reason for this is coach Tie Santana. The Styrian duo made a huge leap forward with him. "He fits us like the famous lid on the pot. In previous years, we lacked a stable foundation and consistency. The new coach has focused on exactly the right things," says Ronja, who, like her sister Dorina, is not only proud of the improvement in the rankings, but also of the progress made at a playing level. "Now is the time to reap the rewards!"

The Klinger family will soon be back at home in Frauental.(Bild: Michael Gratzer)

After this tournament, however, it's time for a vacation. "The season was long and intense. We're skipping the tournaments in Asia - because it doesn't help us in the rankings and the journey with the time difference is also tedious," says the duo, who never had more than three weeks off from tournaments in a row this year. "A really tough season." That's why they have two weeks off after Rio. They will travel from Brazil to Miami and then finally return home to Frauental from Florida. "The current plan is for us to stay at home until January." Mom - but also dad and little brother - will certainly be happy about that.