Shortly before the end of the first sentence, Laura Ludwig's laughter returned.

At 4:12 p.m. in favor of the German team against Miki Ishi and Megumi Murakami, the 2016 Olympic champion once again showed her happy and at the same time profitable side, for which she is known in addition to her outstanding skills on the beach volleyball field and is loved by the fans.

At 9:17 p.m., the sentence went fairly smoothly to Laura and her partner Margareta Kozuch.

Achim Dreis

Sports editor.

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At the beginning of the second movement, however, the smile had faded for a short time. The Japanese led 7: 4, and Ludwig's expression on the bench at the time-out indicated that the German top duo was still not doing well. The two mid-thirties Ludwig and Kozuch have been playing together since 2019, but the ten-time beach volleyball player of the year and the 336-time indoor national player are still not as well-rehearsed as they would like.

Margareta Kozuch has achieved a lot under the roof of the hall, won EM medals as captain with the German national team and, as a respected diagonal attacker, trundled through the volleyball world in the queen position of the classic game. "Maggie", as she is commonly known in the scene, played for top clubs in Italy, Russia and China and in 2016, to top her career off, even won the Champions League with her Italian team from Casalmaggiore.

Then, brave as she is, she changed discipline. In the sand, the 1.88 meter tall woman from Hamburg is still a learner in her fifth summer - at least if Laura Ludwig's high level is used as a benchmark. The division of roles in the team is clear: Laura Ludwig, with her congenial partner Kira Walkenhorst not only Olympic champion in 2016, but also world and European champion, is the leading figure, team boss, tactician and emotional leader. The defense specialist directs her partner on the net, and as a native of Berlin, she does it with hearty words: "If he sucks, get away," she told her partner during a break against Ishi / Murakami, which translated roughly means: If no hard blow from over there is to be expected, you don't have to stand around the net,you can take a few steps back to be ready for the attack that follows.

Margareta Kozuch, blessed with the admirable disposition of a Tibetan yogi, still sees herself as an apprentice despite her earlier successes, soaks up what she can get and improves in the course of the game as well as the tournament. Which ensures that, at the crucial moment, it shows its economies of scale with courageous smashing and blocking actions.

At the start, Ludwig / Kozuch lost almost 1: 2 (25:23, 20:22, 14:16) to the top Swiss duo Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart after a changeable game. Against the outsiders Ishi / Murakami they now won 2-0 (21:17, 22:20) after equally volatile fluctuations. And since they have already won the third match against Marketa Slukova and Barbora Hermannova scheduled for Wednesday due to a corona infection in the Czech team without a fight, they can no longer get into the knockout round.

In order to achieve this as well, Karla Borger and Julia Sude, on the other hand, have to stretch a lot. The second German women's team caught the much more difficult group. Borger / Sude lost on Monday to world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes from Canada with 0: 2 (17:21, 14:21), after they had previously defeated European champions Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich (8:21, 23 : 21, 6:15) were sometimes clearly inferior. But the tournament still holds a chance for them if they win against the Dutch Katja Stam / Raisa Schoon on Thursday (8 a.m. CEST in the FAZ Liveticker for the Olympics, on ARD and on Eurosport). The mode stipulates that out of the six groups of four, two of the six third-placed finishers will progress.The remaining four third players play the remaining two places for the round of 16 in a lucky loser round.

While Julia Sude and Karla Borger are under high tension before their final group game, Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch have to think about how they can bridge the time until Sunday when the knockout games are coming up. "We have to come down first and make a map of the area," said Ludwig in a relaxed manner and added with a winning laugh: "Then our team will come up with something so that we don't get bored."