Hot on the heels of the third leg of the VEBT was Weymouth, the fourth and final stop on the Tour before the Finals in Margate on the 24-25th August. This event traditionally attracts a strong entry, and this year was no different with no less than 5 Olympians taking part in the main draw.
Shauna Mullin, one half of Team GB’s beach volleyball pairing, joined forces with Team GB indoor player Lynn Beattie. Their first game was relatively comfortable, although they survived a small scare in their second game, sneaking it 15-13 in the third against the established pair of Katja Gless and Eva Czinegeova. Former winners Austin/Coutts and Plonka/Medricka found themselves facing each other in the third round, the latter winning in straight sets 21-19, 21-17. The first big win of the day came as first seeds Mieture/Ferretti beat Mullin/Beattie in straight sets 21-18, 22-20; their celebration showed how much the win meant to them. Great Yarmouth winners Jurikova/Healy fell to Austin/Coutts as the experienced pair began progressing through the contender’s bracket.
The women’s semi final line up was made up of familiar faces as Austin/Coutts took on tour regulars Palmer/Grimson. The first two sets could have gone either way, but were split one apiece. The decider was a tense affair, but Coutts, despite suffering a bad knee injury, and Austin pulled through 15-10. The other semi final was a little more straight forward, as Plonka/Medricka beat the top seeds Ferretti/Mieture 21-12, 21-11. This meant the final was a re-match of round 3, where Plonka/Medricka inflicted Austin/Coutts first defeat. The result and score was identical as Plonka/Medricka added their names for the second time to the Weymouth Beach Classic roll of honour.
In the men’s draw, Team GB’s Dan Hunter, playing with Weston-super-Mare winner Tomek Lasocki, was pushed all the way in the first round by newcomers to the tour Chris Sherfield and Leif Harald Fredheim 19-21, 21-14, 15-13. Fellow Olympians Kimber/Tutten suffered a surprise loss in round two to Peksa/Drnovsky, 16-14 in the third, dropping them into the contender’s bracket where they faced a log run of games to make it through to the semi finals on day two. Local boy Ryan Stout claimed his best result on the tour, making it through to the Sunday with Matt Hunter. They almost caused a huge shock, taking a set off Sheaf/Gregory however they couldn’t quite seal the match, losing 15-8 in the third.
All eight players featuring in the men’s semi finals had played at an international level. The quality was there for all to see, as both games went into deciding sets. Miedzybrodzki/Pitman and Sheaf/Gregory emerged victorious after countless energy sapping rallies. The final was a repeat of round four where the pairs met previously, The result was the same as Miedzybrodzki/Pitman came out on top, this time in straight sets 21-15, 22-20. The win for Robin continued his run on the Weymouth Beach Classic winner’s board having won the previous two events.
Thank you to Weymouth Beach Volleyball Club for supporting the event, and to all the players, volunteers and officials for making the event a success. For a list of results, please click here
