Tamsin Hinchley's prowess at the net was key to her and Nicole Cook reaching the main draw at the Paf Open
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Aland, Finland, August 16, 2011 — Tamsin Hinchley and 2000 Olympic champion Natalie Cook were the big winners from the women’s qualification rounds of the Paf Open in Aland, when they beat Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira to book their place in the main draw of the $380,000 tournament.
The Australians beat the Brazilian duo in straight sets, 21-17, 22-20. Earlier they defeated Miller Elwin and Linline Matauatu of Vanuatu 21-17, 21-12 after they had received a bye in the first round of qualifying.
Under cloudy skies, the Brazilians were unable to recover the form that had won them the gold medal at the Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International last week, the test event for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“I’m very happy we’ve made it into the main draw because we didn’t manage that in the last two events,” Hinchley said. “Now we need to reset and get some wins in the main draw.
“Qualifiers are a whole new ball game. They are harder mentally than the main draw because it is single elimination, whereas in the main draw it is double elimination.”
Brooke Hansen and Lauren Fendrick also made it into the main draw after being ranked number one in the qualifying rounds.
The United States duo received a bye in the first round, before they defeated Ester Ribera Boter and Berta Antequera Feixa 21-14, 21-7. In their second match of the day Hansen and Fendrick held off the challenge of Switzerland’s Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre.
Two Russian teams will have their names added to the main draw after making it through the qualifiers.
After a bye and a win in the second qualification round, Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova were pushed all the way by Netherland’s duo Rimke Braakman and Michelle Stiekema in a 21-19, 21-18 victory.
Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova meanwhile had a more straightforward passage into the main draw, with a 21-13, 21-14 win against British pair Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns.
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