04/09/2014 20:05
Italy’s youngsters catch flying start at home U20 European Championship
2014 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship - Men & Women
Cesenatico, Italy, September 4, 2014. The 2014 edition of the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship got started on Thursday in Cesenatico, on the Adriatic Riviera, and will continue all the way through the final matches scheduled for Sunday, September 7. Though the weather wasn’t that good on the first day of competition, a large crowd attended the matches right from the morning session supporting with much enthusiasm the stars in the making of European Beach Volleyball.
The local fans were immediately provided with something to cheer about by the Italian teams but also with exciting matches where the young participants showcased their technical and physical skills together with a spirit of fair play marking the interaction among players, officials and all other members of the various delegations attending the Championship.
The first day provided much to celebrate for the home pairs who left their mark in the men’s as well as in the women’s competition. Home heroine Michela Lantignotti – who was born in the nearby city of Cesena – and Irene Enzo, who were among the European teams that recently competed at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, nevertheless conceded a defeat in their first match to Norway’s Benedicte Maaseide – the daughter of former Beach Volleyball star Bjørn – and Sunniva Helland Hansen (18-21, 19-21). Lantignotti remained nevertheless confident about the next matches: “We just got back home from the Youth Olympics in Nanjing where we ended up in ninth place, quite a good result,” she said. “Though we had to admit defeat to the team from Norway we are extremely motivated, we want to perform well and we have already set our sight on the next match where we want to avenge this first defeat,” added the 18-year old from Cesena. Their next rivals in the pool play will be Israel’s twins Katrina and Kristina Zilberman and Finland’s Anniina Parkkinen and Niina Ahtiainen, who a couple of weeks ago won bronze at the U18 European Championship with Ida Sinisalo.
The other Italian teams starring in the women’s competition, Gaia Concetti/Agata Zuccarelli and Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca claimed their first matches of the tournament by edging teams from Poland and Greece respectively. Last year’s gold medallists Nina Betschart and Nicole Eiholzer of Switzerland have started their quest for another title by seeing off Viktoryia Siakretava and Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya of Belarus in two quick sets (21-11, 21-17).
Italy had something more to celebrate also in the first and second round of the men’s competition with Simone Chinellato/Giacomo De Fabritiis and Riccardo Vecchi/Simone Nicotra claiming their first two matches without dropping a set. Their compatriots Felice Sette/Riccardo Mazzon also scored two victories but had to fight more to edge their first opponents in the tournament, Poland’s second-seeded Mateusz Lysikowski/Kacper Bakiewicz (12-21, 21-14, 17-15) before they comfortably beat Jasper Bouter and Jannes van der Ham of the Netherlands in the second round (23-21, 21-17). Vecchi and Nicotra (pictured), who are playing their first international tournament, did not seem too bothered by any pressure from performing on the home stage: “We do not have any expectations,” they said, “we just want to have fun and of course we will be doing our best in order to progress to the decisive stages of the competition.”
After the last-minute forfeit by the winners of the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin, the race for the medals seems to be wide-open. After completion of two rounds, 10 teams have a perfect record of two wins in as many matches, a feat achieved – among others – also by Lithuania’s Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis, Russia’s Aleksander Margiev/Ilya Leshukov, and Germany’s Niklas Rudolf/Clemens Wickler, all potential candidates for a spot on the podium.
The competition will resume on Friday morning at 9 am with more close matches expected to follow as pool play continues in Cesenatico downtown.
Click here for more information
|