20/08/2017 16:22
German sensation Glenzke/Grossner claim #EuroBeachVolley crown!
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Jurmala, Latvia, August 20, 2017. Many expected a German team would take women’s gold at the 2017 #EuroBeachVolley Final in Jurmala – but only a few could predict that Nadja Glenzke and Julia Grossner would be the ones standing on top of the podium in Latvia’s most popular seaside resort. After causing the major sensation of the tournament with their quarterfinal victory over reigning Olympic and world champions Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Glenzke/Grossner crowned their campaign with gold after a 2-1 victory (15-21, 21-17, 15-11) in an exciting final match against Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova of the Czech Republic.
Kolocova/Kvapilova stormed to a comfortable 21-15 win in the first set of the ‘grand finale’, thus providing something to cheer about to a number of compatriots – members of a floorball team from the city of Prerov – who had turned out earlier on Sunday to cheer them on from the stands of the stadium on Majori beach. However, the Czechs had to chase the opposition from the early stages of the second set and never really closed in – with Glenzke/Grossner rallying to a 21-17 victory to level the match. The German underdogs stormed to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak before Kolocova/Kvapilova fought their way back to level the score at 9-9. This is, however, where the Czechs somehow got stuck as the Germans produced a 6-2 run to net a truly unexpected gold medal.
Glenzke/Grossner have been playing together since earlier this season only – and their best finish at an international competition was a ninth place before they travelled to Jurmala earlier this week. This is a feat they had achieved in Xiamen back in April as well as at the 5-Star Major in Gstaad – and as a result, none would have expected them to emerge as the new ‘Queens of the Beach’. As for Grossner, her comeback to Jurmala will remain a memorable one after last year she finished third at the Masters held by the Baltic Sea together with former partner Victoria Bieneck.
Glenzke and Grossner’s achievement accounts for Germany’s eighth European title since the first edition of the continental championship held back in 1994 in Espinho, Portugal.
“We just can’t believe we were able to jump from our previous best result to the gold medal,” an elated Glenzke said. “Perhaps people expected one of the German teams to win #EuroBeachVolley, but I don’t think they expected us to do it.”
“The Czechs did a really good job in block - defence and with their serve in the first set and we had to think about what to change in our reception and side-out. Our decision was right because the changes worked out just fine and after the first set, we just played better and better and eventually won,” her partner Grossner added.
Laboureur/Sude come from behind to seal bronze for Germany
Beach Volleyball fans know Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude as real fighters and the Germans confirmed this side of their personality on Sunday afternoon when contesting the bronze medal match of the 2017 #EuroBeachVolley in Jurmala. The top seeds of the tournament held in Latvia’s most popular seaside resort cancelled three match points for Poland’s sensation Kinga Kolosinska/Jagoda Gruszczynska in the second set of the ‘small final’, showing character and nerves of steel in their effort to change the course of a match, which their opponents had initially taken by storm.
After completing such a sensational comeback, Laboureur/Sude controlled the game in the tiebreak and finally triumphed with the bronze medal – their first such accolade from a ‘major’ competition even though they have World Tour medals as well as two first-place finishes – last year in Jurmala and earlier this season in Baden – from CEV Masters.
Laboureur/Sude seem to have some kind of a connection with Jurmala since this is where they won their first major international competition last September. “We could feel the pressure of course,” Laboureur commented afterwards. “It was a bronze medal match and one of the hardest in this tournament I would say. A bronze medal match decides whether you win something or lose everything, whereas in the gold medal match at least you finish with the silver if you lose. We were with one foot outside of the podium, but something pulled us back and we managed to turn a difficult situation into a victory.”
“In the tiebreak at first we felt relieved that we were still in the game and we just took to the court with this feeling,” Sude added. “This season has been long and it has cost us a lot of effort. You can see that our movements are getting slower and less precise. We are nevertheless happy that we managed to finish the tournament with a medal, especially after our disappointment in the semi-final.”
Click here for further information
|