Battle for Semifinal Spots on Day Two of Queen & King of the Court

In the sold-out BetCity Arena, over 2,000 spectators enjoyed the spectacle of Queen & King of the Court "The Ultimate Mashup". For more than six hours, matches followed each other at a fast pace. Fans from Utrecht and surrounding areas saw their Dutch heroes—Stam, Van Driel, Boermans, Immers, Meeuwsen and De Groot—secure semifinal spots. They teamed up with different partners than usual, leading to surprising and spectacular matches.

Schneider/Bentele and Ludwig/Stam Dominate in Women's Matches
The final semifinal spots for the women were decided today. In the afternoon round, Schneider/Bentele scored the most in the first set, followed by Placette/Lahti-Liukkonen, who scored the highest in the second round. The final round kept the crowd on the edge of their seats: Dutch player Marly Bak and her Norwegian partner Kirstine Garder nearly staged an impressive comeback, but the Norwegian/Slovenian duo Helland-Hansen/Kotnik ultimately took the win.

German legend Laura Ludwig appeared in the evening session with her Dutch partner, blocker Katja Stam, one of the best in the world. They convincingly secured a semifinal spot in the first round. In the second round, Van den Vonder/Kozuch grabbed a ticket, while the final round was decided in legendary fashion. The Dutch/Norwegian duo Emi van Driel and Emilie Olimstad had zero points after eight minutes, but with a thrilling sprint at the end, they managed to score 16 points in the final moments.

At the end of the night, playoffs were held for one last semifinal spot, won by Borger/Hermannová. We'll see them later in the semifinals at Utrecht's Jaarbeursplein.

Meeuwsen/Wickler Shine in Evening Session
The men also fought hard for semifinal spots in the afternoon and evening sessions. In the first round, the Latvian/British duo Plavins/Bialokoz narrowly won. Plavins had only recently become European Champion in the Netherlands two weeks ago. In the second round, the Dutch/Latvian pair Boermans/Samoilovs took a commanding lead and secured their spot in the semifinals. The final round of the afternoon was won by Dutchman Immers, who teamed up with Austrian Dressler.

In the evening session, the crowd enjoyed watching Robert Meeuwsen in his last tournament on Dutch soil. Together with Germany's Clemens Wickler, who won silver at the Olympics last summer, they secured a convincing victory. In the second round, the young duo Hölting Nilsson/Berger pulled off a win with a strong final sprint. The Dutch crowd had one more reason to cheer in the final round as Dutchman De Groot and Norwegian Berntsen grabbed the last semifinal ticket of the day.

Tomorrow promises another day full of beach volleyball, with the first tickets for Sunday's finals up for grabs.