The A1 Beach Pro Vienna 2024 continued to see stunning beach volleyball action on Wednesday as Austria's Dorina and Ronja Klinger edged out the Lithuanians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-6) in their Pool D match.
The Klinger sisters started strong but their opponents, warmed up by two qualifying matches on Tuesday, fought back to take the lead. Thrilling rallies had the crowd oohing and aahing before the Austrians served for the set and won it. Paulikiene required a medical break after injuring her left ankle but she did not let that stop her and the second set was again a closely-fought affair.
Austria's number one team are seeded fourth in the tournament but they had their work cut out against a combative Lithuanian pair who had dispatched the Germans Ittlinger/Behrens and the Ukrainians Davidova/Khmil the day before. Given the high level of play, it was inevitable that the match would go into a third set. But the Austrians kept the upper hand with several well-placed balls and eventually cruised to victory.
"Unbelievable!" was Ronja Klinger's reaction after the match. It's the first time that the Austrian duo won a match in the main draw of an Elite16 tournament.
They will be back on Center Court at 7pm for their second Pool D match against the Swiss Vergé-Dépré/Mäder.
