Krafft brothers, Lück-Böhm take Spring Open crowns

Africa U21 champions Max and Jura Krafft continued their winning run in the DTS Liqui Fruit beach volleyball series by taking the men’s title at the Spring Open at the DTS Beach Volleyball Arena in Windhoek on Saturday.

The brothers, who also won the Winter Classic in June, completed their latest title run by beating Simeon Ndaxula and Teodor Thomas 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) in the men’s final.

Piroschka Lück and Nadia Böhm took the women’s crown after recovering from a set down to overcome Rosi Hennes and Carmen Curschmann 2-1 (17-21, 21-10, 15-12) in a three-setter.

Competing sides

The full-day tournament attracted 43 two-a-side teams, comprising 15 men’s, 13 women’s, 12 U19 boys’ and three U19 girls’ combinations.

A further eight mixed teams competed in the social four-a-side section, taking the overall field to 51 teams.

In the men’s Open section, Ndaxula and Thomas took silver behind the Krafft brothers, while third-placed Kudakwashe Mahachi and Panashe Chiguta completed the podium.

Hennes and Curschmann took silver in the women’s section following their three-set battle with Lück and Böhm, while Lameesh Harris and Albertina Mathew finished third.

Junior honours

Boys U19: 1 Kito Gallert and Charlie Dürrschmidt; 2 Xavier Phillipus and Erastus Nepembe; 3 Rene Steinkopff and Johan Ritzer.

Girls U19: 1 Hadassah Swartz and Dascha Stoessel; 2 Carmen Diekmann and Ines Ramdohr; 3 Larissa Redecker and Kyra Ellinger.

Social four-a-side

Mixed: 1 Afromix; 2 Legendary Elites; 3 Bigbux.

Liqui Fruit's backing

Tournament organiser Heiko Kesselmann said Liqui Fruit’s continued backing has helped the beach volleyball series offer N$20 000 in prize money while supporting both senior competition and junior participation.

In a statement, Kesselmann also thanked the participating teams, officials, volunteers and supporters for their contribution to the tournament.

He confirmed that the next DTS Beach Volleyball tournament will take place on 10 October at the DTS Beach Volleyball Arena in Windhoek.

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