A sell-out crowd attended the Snow Volleyball European Championships today ©CEV

Top seeded Czechs crashed out of the inaugural Snow Volleyball European Championships at the women's quarter-finals stage in Austria.

A total of 48 teams - equally split between men and women and from 18 countries - have travelled to the birthplace of the sport to contest the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) pilot event in Wagrain-Kleinarl and Flachau, which runs until tomorrow.

Top seeds Anna Dostalova and Michaela Knoblochova beat Alise Lece and Ilze Liepinlauska of Latvia yesterday in the pool stage but lost to the same opponents today.

Dostalova was struggling with injury and this certainly contributed to a 11-8, 11-9 defeat in just 24 minutes at the Salzburg Snow Space Arena. 

Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte will lie in wait for a place in the final after an 11-6, 11-6 win over their fellow Lithuanians Ieva Vasiliauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite.

Second seeds Bugra Eryildiz and Aleyna Vence of Turkey are the highest ranked players left in the women's draw after an 11-6, 9-11, 11-2 success over Switzerland’s Claudia Schmid and Sarah Leemann.

The medal matches will take place tomorrow in both men's and women's competitions ©CEV
The medal matches will take place tomorrow in both men's and women's competitions ©CEV

Liudmila Dayanova and Maria Ushkova completed the semi-finals line-up with a 11-9, 11-7 win in an all-Russian clash with Ekaterina Syrtseva and Ksenia Khakimzanova. 

Two Russian pairs progressed in the corresponding men's draw.

Top seeds Ruslan Daianov and Taras Myskiv won 12-10, 11-5 against Florian Schnetzer and Daniel Müllner of Austria, while fourth-seeded Yury Bogatov and Pavel Rakusov defeated another home pair in Alexander "Xandi" Huber and Martin Streitfellner 11-8, 11-6.

The finals tomorrow will be broadcast live on ORF Sport+ and shown subsequently on Eurosport 2 and Eurosport Asia Pacific.

Other broadcasters across 19 countries will show the finale in some form.

"Snow volleyball is going from strength to strength in Europe this year and these European Championships are the culmination of a fantastic Snow Volleyball European Tour," said CEV President Aleksandar Boričić.

"The interest we have received from international broadcasters to broadcast this historic event not just in Europe but around the world gives us great confidence in the appetite for the sport and its future growth."