25/08/2017 22:52
Pool phase completed at #EuroBeachVolleyU18 in Kazan
2017 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championships
Kazan, Russia, August 25, 2017. The pool stage of the 2017 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship finished on Friday in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The winners of the eight men’s and women’s pools progressed straight to the Round of 16, whereas the second and third-place finishers will compete for the eight remaining spots at stake to move on to that round of the competition.
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The boys and girls exchanged roles on Friday since the men played two pool matches, whereas the women finished their duties in the pool stage with one last match. Most of these games were due to decide the eventual winners of the pools, as well as the sides finishing in second and third place, thus remaining ‘alive’ in the competition.
Russia have as many as three teams in the women’s competition and especially top-seeded Mariia Bocharova/Maria Voronina have been going strong so far. On Friday, they easily beat Switzerland’s Mara Betschart/Anna Lutz, thus securing their spot in the Round of 16. Two more Russian teams made it to the playoffs - Ekaterina Ludkova/Kristina Kukushkina finished third in their pool, whereas Olesia Andreiuk/Anna Movchan were the runners-up in their group.
Next to Bocharova/Voronina, teams from Spain, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Greece and Poland completed a clean sweep of the matches in their respective pools and they remain heavily in contention for the medals. As for Russia, if everything goes well, two of their teams could clash in the quarterfinals.
"Everything is perfectly organised in Kazan. Russia is not a real foreign country for me, since my mother is from here, so I want to please her, and all friends and relatives with a good result at this event. We have started perfectly, and we will try to continue this series of victories in the next matches,” commented her start to the #EuroBeachVolleyU18 Tania Moreno Matveeva, whose mother Olga Matveeva, born in St. Petersburg, was a bronze medallist from the 1997 edition of the Russian Beach Volleyball national championship.
Russia have performed even better in the men’s competition with two of their teams scoring three straight wins to move on straight to the Round of 16. Russia’s third team finished second in Pool A, thus securing their progression to the elimination phase as well.
Teams from Belarus, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England took a flying start in Kazan and joined the Russians in the Round of 16. At the end of the pool phase, teams from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy shared the same number of points in one of the pools. As a result, the organisers had to consider the set points ratio in the matches involving these teams. After making some calculations, Hungary’s Artur Hajós/Bence Attila Stréli took first place, the Czechs Jiri Sedlak/Patrik Manas finished second, whereas Italy’s Mattia Bottolo/Alberto Di Silvestre had to be content with third place.
On Saturday, #EuroBeachVolleyU18 in Kazan will continue with the decisive stage of the competition – the playoff matches to determine the semi-finalists, who will play for the medals on Sunday, August 27.
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