25/08/2013 19:00
Ukraine reigns supreme in Rhodes, Greece and Cyprus qualify for girls' and boys' finals
CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - Zonal Phase
Rhodes, Greece, August 25, 2013. Ukraine’s boys and girls finished the Zonal Phase tournament – Pool G of the CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup with a clean sweep of their matches to qualify for the final stage coming up next year. Greece’s girls as well as the boys from Cyprus got the second ticket to the finals where six spots will be at stake to compose the European contingent for the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
After routing the young girls from Albania on Saturday, Alina Demydova and Darya Udovenko of Ukraine cruised past Greece’s Myrsini Vakalopoulou/Tatiana Moldovanidi in straight sets (21-14, 21-19) to claim first place in the pool and qualify for the finals coming up next year (venue still to be determined). “It was a difficult game but we are happy with our second win and for making the next phase of the Continental Cup” Udovenko and Demydova said.
Though Oleg Plotnytskiy suffered an injury halfway through the second set, he and partner Dmytro Kanaiev could still edge Greece’s Georgios Kampouris and Georgios Anastasiadis 21-18, 21-19 to complete their campaign with an impeccable record. “We leave Rhodes with great memories. The organization of the tournament was just excellent and we are evidently satisfied with our victories” they said.
Greece’s girls Vakalopoulou/Moldovanidi fought their way back after losing to Ukraine to finish second in the group and qualify for the finals of the Continental Cup as they beat Erika Zempyla and Zoi Konstantopoulou of Cyprus in straight sets (21-14, 22-20). “We really wanted to qualify for the final stage of the Continental Cup. Though we were afraid we hadn’t taken our lesson from the previous game with the girls from Ukraine, everything went well in the end and we could achieve our goal” the home heroines commented. The girls from Cyprus ended in third place after they had previously edged Albania’s Adelajda Bërboti/Medlina Shahini 21-7, 21-11 to get the right to play Greece for the second ticket to the finals.
The boys from Cyprus, Charalampos Zorpis and Georgios Chrysostomou caused quite a sensation as they beat Greece’s Kampouris/Anastasiadis 2:1 (21-19, 18-21, and 15-11) to finish second in the group and make the finals. “It was the toughest game we played in this tournament and we are evidently happy that we made it through and got the right to play in the next phase” the Cypriot boys said. Greece finished third while Albania’s Krist Martiro/Osman Qepa wound up in fourth after losing 14-21, 14-21 to Zorpis and Chrysostomou.
“I would like to thank CEV and the Hellenic Volleyball Federation as well as the local staff for the great event that was held on this beautiful island” said CEV Technical Supervisor Bruno Proietto of Italy at the end of the awards ceremony.
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