Novi Sad, Serbia, July 5, 2014.  A spectacular atmosphere at Strand beach and 36-degree temperatures marked the closing day of the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Novi Sad Masters with Serguei Prokopiev / Grigoriy Goncharov from Russia climbing to the top of the podium after besting first-seeded pair Alexander Huber / Robin Seidl from Austria by 2:1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-9) in a dramatic finale.  However, both Russia and Austria have secured quotas for the 2015 FIVB World Championship in the Netherlands.

The third place was taken by Portugal’s Roberto Mauro Silva Reis / Fabricio Silva who edged Germans Armin Dollinger / Clemens Wickler in straight sets by 2:0 (21-18, 25-23).

Local heroes Sinisa Antonic / Marko Galesev, Stefan Basta / Miljan Kikovic and Sasa Surla / Rasko Jovanovic had to settle for the 17th position in the final rankings.

The duo from Russia entered the competition as seed #10 and cruised its way to the crown without losing a single match.  Serguei and Grigoriy won 320 points and a check amounting to € 5,000 out of total tournament’s € 25,000 prize pool.

Goncharov was overjoyed for triumphing at Novi Sad Masters.  “The game was very tough, the opponents were really strong, but everyone was cheering for us and giving us power.  This is my first gold medal at a European Championship event and the feeling is almost unreal,” he exclaimed.

An idyllic beach sunset provided a perfect setting for the official awarding ceremony.  The cups were presented by CEV Jury President Maris Pekalis, Volleyball Federation of Serbia Vice President Vladimir Grbic and the Director of City Greenery Aleksandar Bogdanovic.  The medals were presented by Keneth Ji, Director of Business Unit for Mobile Devices at LG Electronics Magyar Kft, while the valuable checks were delivered by Dejan Kastelic, Director/CTO of the Vip mobile company.

Novi Sad is the third stop of the 2014 CEV Beach Volley European Championship tour and this is the fourth consecutive year that the Volleyball Federation of Serbia and its general sponsor Vip mobile company host this prestigious tournament on the beautiful bank of the Danube.

Over the past days the city of Novi Sad once again proved to be a perfect host to the prestigious CEV tournament.  Fans cheered loudly while witnessing spectacular sand duels of some of the best European players.  A great applause was awarded also to the legend of Serbian volleyball Vladimir Vanja Grbic, the winner of 2000 Olympic gold, a member of the FIVB Development Commission and the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Through his Vip Beach Volley school this year over 3,000 future sand champions got valuable first lessons of this amazing sport so far.

The next stop of this year’s CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship tour will be in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, where a double-gender Masters tournament will take place from August 6 through 10.