The International Journey of Beach Queen Ludwig Comes to an End.
Funny enough, it's Laura Ludwig's German successors who put a stop to her global beach volleyball career. At the prestigious event in Hamburg, the freshly crowned European champs, Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann, knock out the 38-year-old and her partner Louisa Lippmann. However, they still have one more event to show up.
The remarkable international run of beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist Laura Ludwig reaches its end. Partnered with Louisa Lippmann, they fall in the quarterfinals of the elite tournament in Ludwig's hometown of Hamburg to her German successors, Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann. The European champs take down the Rio champions and Louisa Lippmann with scores of 21:15, 21:18.
After failing to make it past the group stage at the Olympics in Paris, Ludwig declared her retirement from the sport. Following the international tournament in Hamburg, she'll compete in her last event at the German championships in Timmendorf next week. Ludwig will receive her honors at the finals in Hamburg on Sunday.
Ludwig and Lippmann clinched their place in the knockout rounds on Friday with a win against the Lithuanian duo, Monika Paulikiené and Ainė Raupelytė. Then, they defeated Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint from the USA with scores of 21:15, 19:21, 15:12 to progress to the quarterfinals against Müller and Tillmann. The 23-year-old Müller and the 10-year-older Tillmann face the Brazilian team, Galil Thamela Coradelli and Victoria Lopes Pereira Tosta, in the semifinals on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler had to pull out of the tournament in Hamburg due to an injury Ehlers suffered during their opening match against the Swiss pair, Quentin Métral and Jonathan Jordan. Despite advancing to the knockout rounds, Ehlers' injury proved too severe for him to carry on playing.
Despite their victory against the American duo, Ludwig and Lippmann's beach volleyball journey comes to an end in the quarterfinals, defeated by German successors Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann. At the upcoming German championships in Timmendorf, Ludwig will participate in her final event before retiring from the sport.
