07/08/2013 10:00
Excitement grows in Vilnius for U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship
2013 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Vilnius, Lithuania, August, 7, 2013. The thrill of elite Beach Volleyball takes over the city of Vilnius where the 2013 CEV U20 European Championship is about to start. The Lithuanian capital is ready to host this week a spectacular event that brings together Europe's top Beach Volleyball teams under 20 years of age.
Lithuania turns this week in one of the centers for the sport in Europe, as the action invades the spectacular Credit24 Arena, where the up-and-coming stars of European Beach Volleyball will clash for the continental crown. 32 teams per gender will compete in four days full of emotions and passion. The tournament will live its official kick-off this Wednesday with the celebration of the Technical Meeting and the draw of the pool round. The matches will begin on Thursday morning and the finals are scheduled for Sunday.
Vilnius stages this spectacular continental event after hosting the CEV U18 European Championship in 2011 and the country is living with expectation the start of the competition, in a demonstration of the interest that Beach Volleyball raises among Lithuanian sports lovers. The dreams and illusions of local fans are centered on the four Lithuanian teams that have thoroughly prepared for one of the highlights of the season.
In the men’s tournament, the duos Matas Navickas/Edvinas Vaskelis and Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis will try to use the home ground factor to try to reach the final stages of the competition. 16-year-old Matas Navickas and 17-year-old Edvinas Vaskelis face their biggest event yet and will try to impose the same efficiency proved this season during the CEV Youth Continental Cup. As for Arnas Rumsevicius and Lukas Kazdailis, the 18-year old players will attempt to repeat at home the sensational performance presented this past July at the FIVB U19 World Championships in Porto, where the Lithuanian athletes born in Raseiniai and Tytuvenai achieved a brilliant fourth position.
Norways’s Bjarne Nikolai Huus and Christian Sandlie Sørum, who won silver as a team at the 2013 FIVB U19 World Championship start as favorites in the men’s competition, together with 2012 CEV U20 European Championship silver medalists, Michal Bryl and Sebastian Kaczmarek from Poland, who will compete in Vilnius with different partners, Kacper Kujawiak and Lukasz Kaczmarek, respectively.
In the women’s tournament, two players will catalyze the attention of the organizing country: Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte. The two Lithuanian stars, despite their young age, accumulate a sensational and astonishing list of honors; at 18 years, the 175cm and 180cm tall players have won gold at the 2012 FIVB Youth World Championship as well as at the 2011 CEV U18 European Championship and bronze at the 2012 CEV U20 European Championship, a dream tally for any athlete. Dumbauskaite and Povilaityte arrive to the home tournament after taking part last week in the 2013 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final held in Klagenfurt, where they finished in 25th position. Together with their fellow countrywomen Urte Andriukaityte and Simona Vaiciukynaite, they will try to carry the Lithuanian hopes up to the final stages of the tournament.
In addition to the local heroines, the main contenders for the title in the women’s competition are, among others, Poland’s Jagoda Gruszczynska and Karolina Baran. Gruszczynska, winner of the 2012 CEV U20 and U18 European Championships joins forces with Baran, who claimed silver at the 2012 FIVB U19 World Championship, composing a mighty duo that bears the badge of favorites. Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Nicole Eiholzer and Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha and Anna Gorbunova will also fight to make it to the crown-deciding matches.
The blossoming of the up-coming legends of the sport will present the fundamentals of their brilliant future in five memorable days coming up in the beautiful city of Vilnius.
Click here for more information on the tournament
|