Laura Ludwig, Louisa Lippmann dominate in Hamburg Elite16 qualifier

There had been glimpses. Stretches of sets and occasionally a full match in which Laura Ludwig — four-time Olympian, World Champion, 2016 gold medalist, one of the greatest defenders to ever play beach volleyball — and Louisa Lippmann displayed an ability to compete at the highest level of the world.

Never had they put on a show such as they did on Wednesday at the Hamburg Elite16 qualifier.

It took a total of just 66 minutes for Ludwig and Lippmann to sweep a pair of matches, over Leonie Kortzinger and Lea Kunst (21-16, 21-18) and Olympic bronze medalists Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Mader (21-14, 21-12) and punch their ticket into the main draw of the Hamburg Elite16.

Ludwig is no stranger to such success. When she retires, she can take up a permanent residence in the GOAT pasture. But Lippmann, an indoor convert, has yet to sustain such a high level of play, though again: She had shown glimpses. More than a glimpse. In their previous event, the Edmonton Challenge in mid-July, Lippmann’s 34 blocks led the field by 12, despite finishing fifth, limiting the volume of matches they played. In just four sets on Wednesday, Lippmann piled up 14 blocks, good for nearly four per set. The next closest blocker is Italian star Valentina Gottardi, whose nine blocks led her and Marta Menegatti to a main draw berth as well.

Whatever has shifted for the Germans since a 17th place finish at the Jurmala Challenge in June is working in a big way. In the two events since, they’ve finished fifth in Edmonton and won their first medal as a team, a bronze at the European Championships in which they upset Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann, nearly stumped eventual gold medalists Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli in the semifinals, and upset Mader and Verge-Depre for bronze.

Now they’re in the main draw of their home event, joining countrywomen Muller and Tillman and Karla Borger and Sandra Ittlinger for the rest of the weekend.

Ludwig and Lippmann were just one of three on-paper upsets to qualify in Hamburg. It is no surprise that Gottardi and Menegatti, the No. 1 seed, made it through, winning both matches with nary a hiccup. But Ludwig and Lippmann were the 6, France’s Lezana Placette and Alexia Richard the 10, and New Zealand’s Alice Zeimann and Liv MacDonald the 12. Hamburg marks just the second Elite16 main draw for France and the first for the Kiwis.

The men’s side was hardly more normal.

Ninth-seeded Spaniards Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira upset top-seeded Brazilians Renato Lima and Vitor Felipe to qualify. Fifteenth-seeded Philipp Huster and Simon Pfretzschner of Germany stunned second-seeded Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik — fresh off a bronze medal at the European Championships — to meet No. 10 Audrius Knasas and Patrikas Stankevicius of Lithuania in the final round. It would be the Lithuanians who prevailed, making their first Elite16 main draw of the year.

On the more expected side, No. 4 Piotr Kantor and Jakub Zdybek of Poland won both of their matches to qualify, as did No. 3 Paolo Nicolai and Sam Cottafava of Italy.

Hamburg marks the first Elite16 of the season that did not feature a single American team, men or women, in the qualifier. Only three teams made the trip to Germany — Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, Andy Benesh and Miles Partain — and all three were seeded straight into the main draw.

Everyone else stayed home for the Manhattan Beach Open.

As such, it presents an opportunity for those three teams to extend their leads over their American counterparts. Benesh and Partain, already substantially ahead of Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, and Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, are the top seeds in a loaded Pool B, which includes Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri, Alex Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, and Gavira and Herrera.

Nuss and Kloth lead a Pool C that features European champions Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli, Karla Borger and Sandra Ittlinger, and Placette and Richard.

Cheng and Hughes are seeded second in Pool D, which is topped by the home favorites, Muller and Tillmann, and also features Worapeerachayakorn and Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat, as well as Gottardi and Menegatti.

Matches begin at midnight Pacific time, and can be streamed via Volleyball TV.

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