Jurmala, Latvia, July 28, 2018. As #EuroBeachVolleyU22 is reaching its climax, the intrigue in the tournament is getting bigger and bigger. On Saturday the semi-finalists in both the men’s and women’s tournaments were revealed after some hectic battles on Majori Beach in Jurmala. Men’s teams from Latvia, Spain, Russia and Lithuania will enter the courts on Sunday in the semi-finals, trying to reach the podium. Among the ladies Italy, Russia, Latvia and Spain will play in the semis as well in order to determine who will compete for the gold later on that day.
This is how Day 3 at the 2018 CEV U22 European Beach Volleyball Championship unfolded:
Men’s tournament:
The Round of 24 set the tone for intriguing matches in the next phase. In the Round of 16 some interesting games led to the elimination of two teams that had been performing very well this far. The French tandem of Timothée Platre and Paul Nicole were outclassed by Fabian Moritz Kindl and Marian Klaffinger (AUT), who rallied to a 2-0 victory (21-13, 21-17). On the other hand, Paolo Cappio and Jakob Windisch from Italy lost 0-2 (16-21, 15-21) from Florian Breer/Yves Haussener (SUI).
Kristaps Smits and Mihails Samoiliovs (LAT) made the home crowds happy after qualifying to the quarterfinals, beating Milosz Kruk and Maciej Lewicki from Poland 2-0 (21-17, 21-13). Later in the quarterfinal the Latvian team started bad vs. Florian Breer and Yves Haussener from Switzerland but after losing the first set, they got back on their feet to eventually seal a 2-1 win (16-21, 21-18, 21-19).
Mihails Samoilovs (LAT) who shared that he has been practicing in Egypt said that he was trying to spike harder in the first game vs. the Polish team: “We were playing our game and that helped us today in the first match. The main court is nice here – almost no wind, so that’s good.”
Samoilovs and Smits will lock horns with the Russian duo Denis Shekunov/Dmitrii Veretiuk - the reigning U20 European champions - who in the quarterfinal had a very intense match vs. Kindl/Klaffinger, but managed to win over them with 2-1 (19-21, 27-25, 18-16).
The Spanish Team Alejandro Huerta/Javier Huerta also qualified for the semis after seizing a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) victory over the Norwegians Martin Olimstad/Aleksander Sandlie Sorum. Alejandro Huerta from Spain stated that he and his teammate are trying to maintain their level, to play at 100% : “The first match was a very interesting one vs. a very strong opponent, so it was nice that we won it without any big difficulties. We are happy to be here.”
Team Huerta/Huerta will have to fight for a place on the podium against Audrius Knasas and Patrikas Stankevicius from Lithuania after the Lithuanians grabbed a 2-1 win (21-19, 19-21, 15-13) vs. the strong team of Aleksandr Kramarenko and Vasilii Ivanov (RUS).
Women’s tournament:
The day in the women’s tournament started with the matches of direct elimination for the Round of 24. The favourites from these matchups didn’t meet any problems and qualified to the Round of 16 where Pool winners were expecting them. The Russian domination continued in the next phase as well, with the reigning champions in this age group Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina winning over the strong team of Leonie Klinke/Leonie Körtzinger (GER) at 2-0 (24-22, 21-12) and Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina outclassing Katja Stam and Mexime van Driel (NED) with 2-0 (21-9, 21-19). Later on that day, in the quarterfinals, both Russian sides met on the court with Makroguzova and Kholomina seizing a 2-0 victory (21-17, 21-15), proceeding this way to the semis. There they will play against Claudia Puccinelli and Gaia Traballi of Italy, who started Day 3 with a great match in the Round of 16 vs Esmée Böbner/Zoé Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland (2-1; 21-14, 19-21, 15-12) and then kept on the winning path after a 2-0 (21-11, 21-17) vs. Mia Severine Guyot Polverini/Clémence Vieira of France.
Nadezda Makroguzova (RUS) said after the first match with the Germans that even though they took a close first set, this wasn’t their play exactly. They ‘gathered themselves’ to find their rhythm, which was the key to their success in Day 3, Makroguzova added.
On the other hand, Claudia Puccinelli (ITA) stated that the key to the success has been really in the last moments of the second set, when they were minus points: “We started very well in the match, but then the French girls were really good and could take the initiative. We are really happy because we have this nice support of these kids here – they are really motivating us, giving us wings in the important moments.”
The other semifinal match will be between the Latvian duo Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina who in the quarterfinal, with great support from the home crowds, claimed a 2-0 win (21-13, 21-17) over Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Emilie Olimstad (NOR) and the Spanish girls Daniela Alvarez Mendoza/María Belén Carro, who, on their side, were better than Dorina and Ronja Klinger from Austria (2-0; 21-8, 21-15). Kravcenoka and Graudina said after the match that they are looking forward to the semifinal on Sunday and now are going to enjoy the moment.
On Sunday all teams will play on the main court, as in the morning the semis will be disputed, while in the afternoon final matches will be played.
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