17/08/2017 17:11
Teams from Russia and Italy impress in men’s pool play at #EuroBeachVolley
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Jurmala, Latvia, August 17, 2017. Men’s pool play at the #EuroBeachVolley Final in Jurmala finished on Thursday afternoon with the last set of matches. Russia and Italy had much to celebrate since these countries had two teams apiece claiming top spot in their respective groups. Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula and reigning European champions Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo achieved this feat for Italy, whereas this year’s World Champs bronze medal winners Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin and 2017 U22 European champions Artem Yarzutkin/Oleg Stoyanovskiy were the star performers for Russia.
Seven teams finished pool play with an impeccable record of three wins in as many matches – including the above-mentioned Italians and Krasilnikov/Liamin. Home stars Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins did so after storming to a 21-18, 21-13 victory over Switzerland’s Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger to the delight of an almost sell-out crowd, which did not leave the stadium despite a sudden, heavy rain shower. The ‘Lion King’ Samoilovs and ‘Terminator’ Smedins continue to chase their second European title and third #EuroBeachVolley medal overall – they won gold in 2015, as well as silver in 2013 and 2014 together. Smedins’s resume includes a bronze medal too from the 2010 edition he contested along with former partner Martins Plavins.
Norway’s rising stars Anders Berntsen Mol/Christian Sandlie Sørum rallied to a 2-0 victory over 2013 European champions Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera of Spain to complete a clean sweep of their matches as well. The same did 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, who finished pool play with a victory in the ‘derby’ with their Belgian neighbours Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle. The last team boasting an immaculate record in the tournament are Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl, who finished on top of the charts in Pool E.
The closest competition happened to be in Pool H where Russia’s Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin and Germany’s Alexander Walkenhorst/Sebastian Fuchs shared the same win-loss record (2-1), with the reigning U22 European champions eventually having an edge thanks to their set ratio.
Following the Drawing of Lots held on Thursday late afternoon, the competition will now resume on Friday with the elimination phase. The pool winners will skip Round 1 whereas the second and third-placed teams from each pool will cross their ways there to determine who continues their journey in a championship, which has already attracted a large crowd right from the early stages of the competition on Majori beach.
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