Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, July 19, 2018. Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak and Norwegians Anders Berntsen Mol/Christian Sandlie Sørum topped Pools D and E, as the #EuroBeachVolley pool phase in the men’s competition has come to an end across all four cities. Italy’s Marco Caminati/Enrico Rossi and Russians Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin were eliminated, while Adrian Heidrich/Mirco Gerson (SUI), Dirk Boehlé/Steven van de Velde (NED), Maxime Thiercy/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat (FRA) and Maxim Sivolap/Artem Yarzutkin (RUS) have moved onto the Round of 24. In the women’s competition, Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (GER) reached the quarterfinals, causing a major upset to the local fans after eliminating Joy Stubbe/Marleen van Iersel. In the quarterfinals, the Germans will be facing their Pool rivals Liliana Fernández/Elsa Baquerizo (ESP).
Men
Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak completed the pool phase with three wins after defeating Italians Marco Caminati/Enrico Rossi 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) in the opening match on Thursday in Apeldoorn. Adrian Heidrich/Mirco Gerson (SUI) and the hosting team Dirk Boehlé/Steven van de Velde (NED) continued the programme with the last match in Pool D, when the Swiss duo saved their chances to continue to fight for glory at #EuroBeachVolley by beating The Netherlands 2-0 (21-19, 21-16). With that result it was down to point ratio to determine which teams would remain in the competition as Caminati/Rossi (ITA), Heidrich/Gerson (SUI) and Boehlé/Van de Velde (NED) all finished the phase with one victory and two losses. The final standing saw the Polish duo remaining at the top, followed by Heidrich/Gerson (SUI) and Boehlé/Van de Velde (NED). For Caminati/Rossi (ITA) the match on Thursday was their last at the 2018 CEV DELA Beach Volleyball European Championship.
Heidrich/Gerson (SUI) beat Boehlé/Van de Velde (NED) in Pool D
In Pool E, Maxime Thiercy/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat (FRA) saved their chances to stay in the competition, defeating Maxim Sivolap/Artem Yarzutkin (RUS) 2-0 (21-15, 21-15). Having two losses and one victory each, both teams had to wait for the final result of the match between Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin and Norwegians Anders Berntsen Mol/Christian Sandlie Sørum to know their fate. The Russians lost 0-2 (15-21, 13-21) to Norway, becoming the third team in the Pool E to have two losses and only one victory. Their set point ratio, the lowest among the four teams, decided that Krasilnikov/Liamin would end their journey at #EuroBeachVolley at this stage. Mol/Sørum finished top of the pool, with Thiercy/Gauthier-Rat and Sivolap/Yarzutkin taking second and third place, respectively.
Thiercy/Gauthier-Rat finished second in Pool E
The Drawing of Lots determined that the second and third teams of both Pool D and E will be leaving Apeldoorn for the Round of 24. Thiercy/Gauthier-Rat (FRA) will be facing Mariusz Prudel/Jakub Szalankiewicz (POL) in The Hague and Sivolap/Yarzutkin (RUS) will be going to Utrecht to play against Latvians Martins Plavins/Edgars Tocs. Pool D’s Heidrich/Gerson (SUI) move to Rotterdam to play against Italy’s powerhouse Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo, followed by the hosting team Boehlé/Van de Velde (NED) who will also check in in Rotterdam to play with Czech Republic’s Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner.
In return Apeldoorn will host Belgians Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle who will play with Mathias Berntsen/Hendrik Nikolai Mol (NOR) while another Dutch team will be counting on the support of the local crowd, as Christiaan Varenhorst/Jasper Bouter will arrive to play Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms of Germany.
This is how men’s competition is due to continue in the elimination phase following the Drawing of Lots held on Thursday night in The Hague:
(click on the image to enlarge)
Women
Women’s competition entered the Round of 24 phase in the afternoon. Taru Lahti-Liukkonen/Anniina Parkkinen of Finland had travelled to Apeldoorn to play against top-seeded Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (GER). The Germans won the match 2-0 (24-22, 22-20), thus moving onto the Round of 16 where they were going to face the hosting team Joy Stubbe/Marleen van Iersel. Czech Republic’s Martina Bonnerova/Sarka Nakladalova beat Austrians Katharina Schützenhöfer/Lena Plesiutschnig 2-1 (23-21, 18-21, 15-11) in the Round of 24 and were down to play Liliana Fernández/Elsa Baquerizo in the last match of the day.
Martina Bonnerova/Sarka Nakladalova (CZE) advanced to Round of 16.
Laboureur/Sude (GER) caused a major upset to the local crowd, eliminating Stubbe/van Iersel (NED) in the Round of 16, but the victory did not come easy. The Germans needed six match points to seal the deal at 2-0 (22-20, 27-25).
“It feels almost like a comfort zone to play sets with high scores here in Apeldoorn,” said Julia Sude. “Our coach is not very happy about that, since we are causing him jumps of high blood pressure,” she joked after the game. “Stubbe and van Iersel played a very good match and it was great to play in a full stadium, even if the crowd was cheering for the other team. They love Beach Volleyball and are here to support their team, but people were very fair.”
Bonnerová/Nakladalova (CZE) celebrate second position in Pool H
Liliana/Elsa (ESP) made it difficult for Bonnerova/Nakladalova (CZE), winning the Round of 16 match 2-0 (21-14, 21-13). The Spanish duo will be facing Laboureur/Sude (GER) in the quarterfinal on Friday and both teams have met earlier this week in the Pool Phase, when the Germans won 2-0 (21-19, 21-19). “We won’t tell you, because they will know what we are planning,” Liliana laughed when asked about approaching Laboureur/Sude. “We will do our best, enjoy the game and hopefully this will bring us the result we want,” she explained.
Liliana (ESP) celebrates reaching the #EuroBeachVolley quarterfinals with her partner Elsa
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