04/08/2018 16:23
Reigning European Snow Volleyball champion Myskiv doing very well on sand too
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Ljubljana
Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 4, 2018. Taras Myskiv is probably one of a very few players, who are for now managing to combine Beach Volleyball and Snow Volleyball in the best possible way. The reigning European Snow Volleyball Champion proved to have a great potential in Beach Volleyball as well after claiming two podium finishes from the 2018 FIVB World Tour events held earlier this year in Malaysia and the Philippines.
The 22-year-old Russian started preparing for the Beach Volleyball season only a few days after a fantastic closure to a very successful Snow Volleyball campaign: “I finished the winter season with two gold medals from the European Tour and a European Championship title. Snow Volleyball was fun, cool, crazy, and I am sure it has a bright future.”
Taras Myskiv performing at the European Snow Volleyball Championship back in March in Austria
After the historic CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship held in Austria, Myskiv took only a few days off, and then started preparing for the season on sand. “We had a really intense preparation period, and after a month we headed to Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to play World Tour events. It was difficult, the temperatures were really high and it was extremely hard for me to adapt. It was somehow tricky to switch from low temperatures to almost extreme hotness,” said Myskiv, who now completely focuses on Beach Volleyball competitions, but is already looking forward to the 2019 Snow Volleyball events: “I want to play some more Snow Volleyball and if there are any events next winter, I will for sure participate. I am already planning to prepare on the snow in Moscow or in Sochi before the season starts.”
Taras Myskiv (left) and Ruslan Daianov were crowned the first ever European Snow Volleyball champions in Wagrain
Myskiv had not only to deal with the weather and climate change. He also did a lot of switching between partners, as his Snow Volleyball fellow Ruslan Daianov had to miss the summer season due to injury and his standard partner Aleksandr Kramarenko joined Russia’s U22 National team. Myskiv played successfully in Asia with Petr Bakhnar, and they claimed a silver medal in Langkawi, Malaysia and in Manila, Philippines. After that, he played with Ivan Golovin in Anapa, Russia and Haiyang, China, and he decided to take the opportunity and register for the tournament in Ljubljana.
Myskiv and partner Valeriy Samoday celebrate their victory over the top seeded Slovenian team at the 1-Star/Satellite event in Ljubljana
He has already made some sight-seeing, while walking towards the centre court at the Congress Square, happy to come to Slovenia, although he needed to find another partner to play with, Valeriy Samoday. They successfully qualified for the Main Draw and immediately upset the home crowd by beating first seeded Nejc Zemljak and Jan Pokeršnik in a tiebreaker. “We came to Slovenia on Wednesday and had some practices. Yesterday we played well in the qualifiers in Črnuče, not even the rain was an obstacle. Luckily, I got the chance to play with Valeriy, and I took it. I need to play as many tournaments as possible to collect points for the world ranking. Now I am here with a nice partner, at a nice venue and nice tournament. I will for sure be back here in Ljubljana again.”
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