16/08/2017 15:15
Estonia’s summer capital poised to host Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup qualifier and EEVZA tournament
News from the National Federations
Pärnu, Estonia, August 16, 2017. This coming weekend, Estonia’s summer capital will also be the capital of Beach Volleyball when Pärnu hosts a qualifying event for the 2017-2018 CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup and a men’s-only event on schedule for the 2017 edition of the EEVZA Beach Volleyball Tour.
It was a year ago when Pärnu organised the World University Beach Volleyball Championships, and now it is time to hold two international competitions at once. “I am very happy that we can offer such a high-level competition to Estonian Beach Volleyball fans where they can both cheer for our youngsters and our best Beach Volleyball team, Kusti Nõlvak/Mart Tiisaar,” Tournament Director Märt Pajusalu said.
Thrilling matches in Pärnu will start on Friday with the qualification round of the EEVZA tournament. There are as many as 15 pairs, who will fight for four available spots to progress to the Main Draw. Amongst the twelve teams, who have already secured a place in the main stage of the tournament, are four Estonian pairs. Kusti Nõlvak and Mart Tiisaar (pictured above), the defending Estonian national champions who have participated in a number of FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events this season, are among them. “We hope to play well in front of the Estonian fans. It will be a competitive tournament with quality opponents and there will be many high-level matches. For us, a good result would be to finish on the podium,” Tiisaar stated.
%20and%20Meius%20(2)%20in%20EEVZA%20U18%20ECH.jpg)
Rasmus Meius and Märt Tammearu competing at the EEVZA U18 Beach Volleyball Championship held earlier this summer in Vilnius, Lithuania
On Saturday, the Beach Volleyball party will gather even more momentum, when the qualifier for the CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup will get underway. Pärnu’s competition will also mark the end of a record-breaking 2017-2018 CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup qualification stage, which featured 38 National Federations in the boys’ competition and 41 in the girls’ event. The final stage scheduled for next year will feature the top 16 nations from both genders who will fight for five spots at stake to compete at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
There will be teams from five nations (Armenia, Estonia, France, Lithuania and Portugal) competing with their young boys and girls for the top two spots qualifying for next year’s Finals. After a round-robin tournament, the best team will directly go to the final whilst the second and third placed teams will play a play-off match, which will determine the second finalist.
Rasmus Meius and Märt Tammearu will represent Estonia in the boys’ tournament and Jade Šadeiko and Katariina Vengerfeldt will take to the sand for the host country in the girls’ competition. “Our goal is to progress to the next stage. I hope that playing in Pärnu will give us a little advantage because both Märt and Rasmus have trained a lot here previously and should know how to adjust to the windy conditions quite well,” said Karl Jaani, who has been coaching the Estonian boys. Kristjan Kais, who is working with the girls, admits that most important for the home team is to rise to the occasion and perform to the best of their abilities. “If we manage to do this, we can be a dangerous opponent for anyone. If not, we will not play any role in the next stage of this competition.”
|