World beach volleyball has returned to Prague after six years! The 2* World Series tournament started at 10 a.m. in the Beachklub Ládví, the biggest beachvolleybal venue in the Czech republic. Three Czech pairs have entered the qualification, but none of them will be playing in the main draw tomorrow. Robert „Bobb“ Kufa and Adam Waber were so close. They lost in tie break after thrilling fight. Daniel Fabikovic and Richard Struška and Michaela Břínková and Anna Širůčková made their debuts on the FIVB circuit. Therefore after the first day the main draw stays with 8 Czech teams.

Even though the biggest stars of Czech beach volleyball will be introduced only in the main competition on Friday, the Czech fans managed to create a great atmosphere already in the qualification round. Even the gloomy and windy weather did not prevent the large number of spectators from cheering. And the Czech pairs rewarded them with at least a few good exchanges, unfortunately none of them managed to win.

Anna Širůčková and Michaela Břínková were the first to make their debut at the World Series. While the latter had experience with the international scene at least from youth tournaments, for Anna it was a new experience. Against them stood the Brazilian Elize Maia and her young teammate Thamela. Elize Maia, among others, won bronze at the last World Tour tournament in Prague in 2015 at Štvanice, which she had played with one of the biggest stars of contemporary women’s beach volleyball, Eduarda Duda Lisboa. The Czech players fought fiercely in that match, but along with that they made several unforced errors and quickly bid farewell to the tournament, after the scores of 13:21 and 13:21. „It was our first time on the world tour, we have something to bounce back from and hopefully we will only get better.“

Robert Kufa and Adam Waber were the first of the Czech men’s teams to enter the tournament, as they got in literally at the last minute. Due to several pairs that did not arrive, they played the qualification despite being ranked 8th in the so-called „reserve list“! Against them stood Polish opponents Brozyniak/Janiak, with whom the Czechs coincidentally had fresh experience from last week, where they lost to the same pair on their home tour in a tie-break 15:17.  The third set spilled over from one side to the other, which Kufa said had a clear reason: „I felt like the match was nervous from both sides. Both teams wanted to win. It was nice volleyball, but there were a lot of errors for my taste.“ In the end, the Czech team was on the losing side with a score of 13:15. „We are happy for the opportunity to show our skills here, but we are sorry for the loss. We have to be more courageous next time,“ Waber was clear.

The last Czech pair, who tried to fight their way into the main competition through a difficult qualification, was a young pair consisting of Daniel Fabikovič and Richard Struška. For the Czech teenagers this was their first ever experience with international beach volleyball, and it was also only their tenth tournament in the adult category! Nevertheless they played a very even match with their Danish opponents (Kristoffer Abell, Jacob Brinck), where the more experienced opponents decided only in the end of the sets. „We did not perform well  while receiving and setting,“ Struška remarked. Although the third Czech duo in the qualifying round also lost in the first round – this time by 18:21 and 17:21 – it should be remembered that for Struška and Fabikovic it was more about preparation for the upcoming European U18 Championships. „It was a great experience for us, we had a great crowd behind us, it was great,“ shone Fabikovic after the game.

It was not only the matches that entertained the spectators in the venue. The kids enjoyed a rich accompanying programme in the fanzone including beach handball training with the Czech national beach handball team, judo with Jaromír Ježek, the Czech judo star, beachfootball training with the local team SK Ďáblice or parkour training with one of the biggest parkour teams GPFC Parkour Praha.

Brazilians Elize Maia and Thamelou and Danes Abell and Brick were the winners of the main competition. Familiar faces among the qualifiers for beach volleyball fans in the Czech Republic may be the Germans Pfretzschner and Sowa, who won the title 5 years ago at the European U18 Championships held in Brno. Surprisingly, the Spanish Menendez/Huerta, who Czech fans could see at this year’s J&T Banka Ostrava Beach Open, where they lost to Ondrej Perušič and David Schweiner in the first match, this time lost to the Lithuanian pair Vasiljev/Juchnevič.

On Friday, the main competition programme starts with eight Czech teams, led by the silver medallists from Ostrava Perušič, Schweiner and Barbora Hermannová with Daniela Resová. Experienced beach volleyball pairs Kvapilová/Kubíčková or Štochlová/Williams will be in action, but there will also be a few first-timers. Anna Pospíšilová and Michaela Kulhánková, Kryštof Oliva and Matyáš Džavoronok or Lukáš Kittel and František Knobloch will make their World Tour debuts on Friday. The remaining players are Tomáš Semerád and Jakub Šépka, who can also put on a beach volleyball show, as they did in the qualification for the J&T Banka Ostrava Beach Open 2021.

Come and cheer for us at the Beach Prague Open 2021!