22/08/2014 20:45
Demonstration of Beach Volleyball magic in Kristiansand
2014 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Kristiansand, Norway, August 22, 2014. The upcoming stars of European Beach Volleyball demonstrated the fascinating nature of the sport in the second day of the 2014 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship being held in Kristiansand. The young participants showed their best skills in matches determined by the pouring rain and by the thrill to reach the decisive stage of competition.
Rain took the leading role in the second day of competition, as intermittent downpours during the morning and part of the afternoon replaced the shiny start of the tournament, so to contribute with more elating factors to the fight for glory presented over the sand. The tournament progressively transitioned to decide which teams will be called to play a key part in the quest for gold, as the disputed Pool play round showed the way to the exciting knockout phase.
In the boys’ tournament, Germany’s Julius Thole and Sven Winter confirmed their condition of candidates to reach the Finals after a convincing demonstration in the first part of the competition. Ninth placed in the 2014 FIVB U19 World Championship Thole and teammate Winter achieved three compelling victories in three matches, the last one against Estonia’s Dimitriy Korotkov/Rimo Reimand 2-1 (22-24, 21-10, 15-10), thus to lead pool C. “We had a very good start of the competition; yesterday we won both matches, against Israel and Poland, and today we had only one game. We did not start very well in the first set, but then we played better, changed our tactics and at the end, we could beat them; I am really happy that we are under the top ten and that we can continue playing good Beach Volleyball”, commented Julius Thole. “We want to go as far as we can, but we know that in this next round, one bad game and you are out”, added Winter.
France’s Marc Darrieux and Timothée Platre followed suit in Pool D and cemented their powerful display in the first day with a perfect run in the Pool play stage. The bronze medalists from the 2014 FIVB U17 World Championship finished the round beating Austria’s Lauris Ochaya/Moritz Fabian Kindl 2-1 (20-22, 21-16, 15-13), adding their names to the list of favorites. Another of the duos that succeeded in the U17 World Championship celebrated in Mexico, silver medalists Alejandro Huerta and Oscar Jimenez from Spain, also took the fast track to the next stage, as they dominated Pool G. The young players from the Canary Islands proved their ability to overcome difficult situations by beating Czechs Jakub Vala/Jakub Gala 2-0 (21-17, 21-18). “We are playing very good, going from worse to better. I find that I am improving day by day, and so is my teammate”, commented Alejandro Huerta. “We are first in our Pool, so now we have to celebrate and keep on going”, stated Oscar Jimenez.
Pool A presented one of the most disputed clashes for the top position, as Dutch duo Ruben Penninga/Nikita Artamonov and Norway’s Sørum/Olimstad engaged in a thrilling match decided in the tie-break. The squad from the Netherlands reached the first place after winning 2-1 (14-21, 26-24, 15-12) in a spectacular game that caused an upset to the local representatives playing at home ground. “It was very sad to lose the last game like this. I felt that we could win, but suddenly everything went the other way”, expressed Alexander Sandlie Sørum. “We had a match-ball, which we should have won. We did not use the chances we got. We're going to fight now for the rest of the tournament”, said Martin Kløvfjell Olimstad.
The duos Marius Barauskis/Edgaras Bartkus (LTU), Manuel Alfieri/Maurizio Montanari (ITA), Maciej Kaszewiak/Mateusz Paszkowski (POL) and Ryan Poole/Harry Jones (ENG) also claimed the leadership of their respective pools, therefore earning the right to enter in the shortlist of candidates, together with the rest of the teams making it to the next phase.
“It's exciting to see what happens next”
In the girls’ competition, Norwegian duo Hannah Sofie Perrens/Sunniva Helland-Hansen a caused sensation on home ground after leading Pool A with three wins in three matches and no sets lost. The local stars captured the emotion of the Nordic fans as they demonstrated efficiency and enthusiasm with a victory over Estonia’s Laura Jõgi/Gerli Gull 2-0 (21-14, 21-14), and proved their intention to reach the final stages of competition. “It's nice to be done with the pool play. We have come forward with three good games where we were able to evolve our game”, declared Sunniva Helland-Hansen, as teammate Hannah Sofie Perrens stated: “It's exciting to see what happens next. It provides an extra motivation to win the pool. Now we are just going to prepare for the next match”.
The dominating lead imposed by the hosts was also continued by German team Marie Koloseus/Viktoria Seeber. Sixteen-year old Koloseus and 17-year old Seeber confirmed their status as one of the squads in top form of the competition after closing the first round with no sets allowed and three victories, the last of them against Israel’s Katrina Zilberman/Kristina Zilberman 2-0 (21-17, 21-16). Finland’s Ida Sinisalo/Niina Ahtiainen in Pool D and Belarus’ Viktoryia Siakretava/Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya in Pool E also closed the round with a clean sheet of triumphs and sets. The promising 17-year old Finnish duo are demonstrating their progression ever since they reached 17th position in CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship last year, and closed the round with a victory over Switzerland’s Jaggi/Steffen 0-2 (21-13, 21-15) to rule Pool D. Meanwhile, 17-year old Viktoryia Siakretava, after her 9th position in the Under 18 continental championship last year, and 16-year old Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya surprised their rivals and passed the round with convincing performances in their pool. The duos Elizaveta Novikova/Daria Mastikova (RUS), Aleksandra Stepien/Marta Pietroczuk (POL), Tereza Kotlasova/Marie-Sara Stochlova (CZE) and Leonie Klinke/Lena Ottens (GER) completed the list of teams that made it to the knockout round as pool leaders.
The expectation in the tournament reaches new levels, as the final rounds approach. After two days of outstanding action in Kristiansand, the upcoming stars of European Beach Volleyball will continue their exhibition of tenacity and strength in the knockout round starting Saturday.
Click here for more info including detailed results, photo gallery and a match programme
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