Jinjiang, China, May 25, 2019 – It’s one from the bucket list for Germany’s Karla Borger and Julia Sude who will compete in a home World Championships this year in Hamburg.
Quick links - Beach volleyball:
Borger and Sude have fond memories of the Berlin 2005 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships which both attended as spectators. The men’s bronze medal match was particularly memorable with two German teams; Julius Brink/Kjell Schneider defeating Marvin Polte/Thorsten Schön.
“I was there in 2005 to watch in Berlin, it was really cool, there was so many people in the crowd and I think we came third and fourth so it was amazing to watch. The world champs are always special,” said Borger.
“We are really happy to play a world championship in our own country, I think this happens only once in a lifetime. I watched as a kid in Berlin World Championships in 2005, so this was really a big goal on my bucket list as an athlete,” said Sude.
Julia Sude faces Marketa Slukova and Barbara Hermannova in Jinjiang
Borger/Sude can’t wait for beach volleyball’s spectacle to arrive in their home nation and are equally excited to compete.
“I think Hamburg is a very nice city for sports, they are really interested in beach volleyball. They are supportive and they spent a lot of money to build this, it’s in a very big tennis stadium so the atmosphere is very special. I’ve played there two or three times already and it was really fun so we are really looking forward,” said Sude.
“It’s very rare that we play in our own country anyway, so it’s nice to have family and friends with us and to speak your own language,” said Sude.
Karla Borger and Julia Sude defeat fellow German's Laura Ludwig Margareta Kozuch in Jinjiang pool play
Both Borger and Sude have competed in the FIVB World Championships previously with different partners, Borger earning silver at the 2013 Stare Jablonki World Championships with former partner Britta Büthe.
Borger and Sude formed a partnership at the beginning of this year, but the two have known each other for much longer.
“It doesn’t feel very fresh, we are in a development and started practicing together at the beginning of January, but we have known each other a really long time, our parents used to play, so we have known each other since we were born. We were already practicing together as kids while our parents were playing so it’s a long, long time. We have also played against each other pretty often,” said Borger.
The pair compete in their fourth FIVB World Tour tournament together in Jinjiang after claiming silver at the Kuala Lumpur 3-Star at the beginning of the month. Borger/Sude have posted some impressive results so far including defeating reigning World and Olympic champion Laura Ludwig and her new partner Margareta Kozuch (Borger’s former partner of two years) in pool play.
They also beat Brazil’s Barbara/Fernanda before defeating Jinjiang top seeds Marketa Slukova and Barbara Hermannova to enter the quarterfinals, 2-0 (21-14, 21-16).
“I think we know the Czech team pretty well, they also know us pretty well but not as a team together. I think we started very aggressively so they had big problems and we could keep it until almost the last point, then we struggled a little bit, but then we did it as we were so far ahead,” said Sude.