Anapa, Russia, June 29, 2018. Eight men’s and eight women’s teams, the leaders in their respective pools, qualified on Friday for the 1/8 Finals of the 2018 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship, that is taking place in Anapa, Russia from June 28 to July 1.
In the women’s tournament Bocharova/Voronina (RUS), Stubbe,P./Piersma (NED), Betschart/Baumann (SUI), Maixnerova/Stochlova (CZE), Munar/Moreno (ESP), Klinger R./Mitter (AUT), Böbner/Gilardi (SUI) and Frolova/Ganenko (RUS) proceeded to the next phase, while in the men’s one Gorbenko/Ivanov (RUS), Nicole/Platre (FRA), Shustrov/Gusev (RUS), Pérez/Duque (ESP), Shekunov/Veretiuk (RUS), Malinauskas/Stankevicius (LTU), Ahman/Hellvig (SWE) and Broch/Gysin (SUI) topped their Pools and will play in the 1/8 Finals as well.
However, there are still chances for the runners-up and the teams, placed on third position, to proceed ahead in the competition, as there are still as many as eight free spots after the first round of the Play-off phase.
The women’s #EuroBeachVolleyU20 gave a lot of bright emotions to the fans of Beach Volleyball, as some very important and decisive games, that would give a chance to take part in the next phases of the competition, were played on Friday.
Among the Russian teams Mariia Bocharova/Maria Voronina could achieve a maximum result as did Anastasiia Frolova/Aleksandra Ganenko as well. In the first match Bocharova/Voronina outclassed Holly Bentley/Ellie Austin from England 2-0 (21-13, 21-8) and later beat the Latvians Varvara Brailko/Anete Namike 2-0 (21-17, 21-19), thus topping their respective Pool A. The team Frolova/Ganenko won over the French duo Mia Guyot Polverini/Clémence Vieira 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) and emerged as the eventual leaders in Pool H, while the third Russian team in the competition, Anna Movchan/Elena Fediunova will play in the 1/16 Final.
Russian teams have been playing a dominant role in Anapa this far
Anastasiia Frolova, player of Russia: “The organisation of the tournament here in Anapa is wonderful. Of course, it is too hot here, but I am happy that we won very important matches today and we are ready to fight in the next days as well.”
In Pool D teams Martina Maixnerova/Marie-Sara Stochlova (CZE) and Clara Windeleff/Astrid Elisabeth Mellmølle (DEN) collected an equal amount of points. The match, from which was determined the final standing of the group, was won by Maixnerova/Stochlova from Czech Republic (with the result being 2-0 sets at 21-15, 21-11), while Windeleff/Mellmølle will continue the competition in the 1/16 final.
In Pool E Aina Munar/Tania Moreno Matveeva of Spain won the match over Michaela Brinková/Natalie Zurkova (CZE) in two straight sets 2-0 (21-14, 21-16).
Marie-Sara Stochlova, player of Czech Republic and a former U18 European champion: “It was a little bit difficult in the beginning, but we could manage with everything. I really like the centre court, it is a huge one and very comfortable."
Russian Men’s teams claimed the lead in their Pools after the group stage and made happy the local fans, who came to enjoy some great atmosphere.
Alexey Gusev, player of Russia and reigning U18 European champion: “Today we showed our game, we did not underestimate our opponents. We reached our aim, of course when it comes to this part of the tournament.”
Sergey Gorbenko, player of Russia and reigning U20 European champion: “All teams participating in this tournament are strong, but we feel supported by our fans.”
In Pool G David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden and Armin Kopschar/Paul Pascariuc (AUT) competed for the first place, with the Swedes claiming a 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) victory to qualify for the 1/8 finals.
Marius Malinauskas of Lithuania in action at the #EuroBeachVolleyU20 in Anapa
Marius Malinauskas/Patrikas Stankevicius beat Italian duo Paolo Cappio/Jakob Windisch (27-25, 21-19) to claim first place in their pool.
Marius Malinauskas from Lithuania said: “It was a good game with a strong battle on the net. We are happy that we won this match.”
On Saturday we are expecting more battles in the play-off phase, which will determine all participants of the semifinals. The Medal matches are scheduled for Sunday, July 1.
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