05/08/2018 22:35
Valeriy Samoday returns to international competition with a bang!
2018 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Ljubljana
Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 5, 2018. Valeriy Samoday, who competed this weekend with reigning European Snow Volleyball champion Taras Myskiv at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-Star/Satellite event in Ljubljana, celebrated his international comeback after a break of four years. He did so in emphatic style as Samoday and Myskiv triumphed with the gold medal of the Ljubljana 1-Star event after recording a 2-0 victory (21-14, 21-17) over top-seeded and local favourites Nejc Zemljak and Jan Pokeršnik of Slovenia.
The 27-year-old Samoday was born in Ukraine and this is where he played Beach Volleyball for many years, starting already at a young age before claiming an impressive series of medals from World and European age-group championships together with former partner Sergiy Popov. “However, the financial situation in the Ukraine was not so good and I could see little progress in the development of our sport,” Samoday said. “That was the reason why I wanted to create my future somewhere else, where I would enjoy better conditions for my career as a Beach Volleyball player,” Valeriy explained his choice to change allegiance.
“I received a proposal from the Kazakhstan Beach Volleyball national team to join them. Since a lot of Ukrainian players play Volleyball and Beach Volleyball there and they advised me it would be a good move for my career, I did not hesitate and decided to grasp the opportunity,” Samoday continued.
Valeriy Samoday portrayed during the 1-Star event in Ljubljana together with partner Taras Myskiv
However, despite waiting for two years as per the regulations in force, he could only practice but he never got the chance to play on the international stage. Luckily, he received an offer from a Russian coach to play for Russia. Since his wife comes from Russia as well, it was quite an easy choice to accept the invitation.
Although he had to wait for another two years to return to international competition, the Russian Volleyball Federation immediately took care of all the paper work and he finally got the chance to return to Beach Volleyball competitions. The first stop for him and his partner was the Ljubljana tournament. “It is very difficult for any professional sportsman to be waiting so long and not being able to compete,” Samoday continued. “I wanted so badly to return and now it’s just amazing to be back. I was a bit nervous before the first match, but I wasn’t afraid of anything,” the Russian player commented his comeback.
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