20 years Swatch Major Gstaad!

  13.07.2019 Sports & Leisure

Maybe now’s the best time for a rematch? The Swiss ladies, Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart, played their way to bronze in the world beach volleyball championship. They came in behind the Australians, Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy. The two ladies from ‘down under’ had already caused problems in the Swiss camp in the second round. They came in behind duo Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré in three sets in the World Cup tournament.

World Cup surprises
The jubilee edition of the Swatch Major Gstaad promises the best in sporting excitement. In Hamburg, the recently crowned World Champions, Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy (RUS) took the title with consistently strong performances. Second-placed Germans Clemens Wickler and Julius Thole surprisingly knocked out the world’s top-ranked player combination of Sørum/Mol in the semi-final. All three teams will play in Gstaad. Alongside them, many other top teams will be fighting for good positions.

Not surprisingly, the tournaments are all about the ladies. The Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes won the final in a rather cool Hamburg in two sets. Last year, they were the winners of the Gstaad tournament.

A new match and a new stroke of luck!
Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart can count on the support of local spectators at the tournament in Gstaad and the same goes for Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich plus Laura Caluori and Dunja Gerson. If Kim Huber and Melina Hübscher pass the qualifiers, they’ll be the fourth Swiss women’s team.

The Swiss men’s teams of Quentin Métral and Yves Haussener, Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger plus Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich can also hopefully benefit from the local setting. Michiel Zandbergen and Gabriel Kissling could be the fourth team to qualify for the main field.

Great perspectives
In addition to many sporting attractions, events supporting the tournament also provides great entertainment. The organisers are fully relying on entertainment by the two Swiss artists, Loco Escrito and Bastian Baker.

Author Maggi Kunz provides an entertaining look back over the 20 years of the beach volleyball tournament in Gstaad in her anniversary book. As a co-founder of the tournament, she’s been involved since the very beginning.

Reliable sponsors
There’s good reason for the special atmosphere at the Gstaad tournament. For one, the tournament’s committee members have been involved for many years, some from the very beginning. The ambience reflects the spirit of solidarity and perpetual enjoyment. On the other hand, the organisers have been well supported by sponsors and partners for many years.

Without sponsors such as Swatch, Coop and Red Bull, a tournament of this size would be almost impossible to run, according to tournament director Ruedi Kunz. Also, the Saanen municipality has supported the project from the word go. Finally, over 500 helpers lend a hand every year at the Swatch Major Gstaad.

Based on AvS/Jenny Sterchi
Translated by Justine Hewson


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