28/08/2014 21:31
Latvia’s rising stars upset 2012 Olympian Sorokins in Jurmala
2014 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellites - Jurmala
Jurmala, Latvia, August 28, 2014. The CEV Satellite tournament in Jurmala – the most anticipated sporting event on schedule this summer in Latvia – got underway on Thursday with the country quota matches for teams from Latvia, Austria and Russia. The Satellite is the largest and most important Beach Volleyball event organised in the Baltic States in the past five years. The tournament will continue on Friday with the qualification before it reaches its climax on Saturday and Sunday with the main draw all the way through to the finals.
The first international tournament organised in Latvia has drawn much attention from media and fans alike after a 2,000-seat stadium was set up right by the beach of Mayori in Jurmala, Latvia’s most popular seaside resort.
Teams from Austria, Latvia and Russia started their campaign already on Thursday with the country quota matches. Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler of Austria got a bye to advance straight to the qualification round, whereas their compatriots Daniel Müllner/Jörg Wutzl needed five sets to progress to the next stage after besting their countrymen Daniel Hupfer/Julian Hörl (15-9, 13-15, 15-13, 11-15, 7-5). Similarly to all other Satellite tournaments organised this year, with the only exception being the event in Vaduz, the matches are being played in a best-of-five format with each set up to 15 points.
Russia’s Yury Bogatov/Maksim Khudyakov advanced to the qualification without playing any match whereas Russia’s vice champions Alexander Likholetov/Ruslan Dayanov edged their countrymen Nikita Liamin/Dmitry Barsouk by 3:1 (15-13, 20-22, 15-7, 17-15). Barsouk is Russia’s most decorated Beach Volleyball player and wrote history for his country winning a silver medal at the 2007 FIVB World Championship in Gstaad together with former partner Igor Kolodinsky.
The matches starring the home teams from Latvia were really dramatic. Two former medallists from the CEV U20 European Championship, Armands Abolins and Haralds Regza, first played five sets to cruise past Toms Smedins/Viktors Korzenevics (16-18, 15-9, 15-17, 15-11, 9-7) and then upset local star Ruslans Sorokins, a 2012 Olympian, and his new partner Edvarts Buivids in straight sets (16-14, 15-11, 15-11).
Though the tournament will reach its most exciting stages on Saturday and Sunday, taking into account the close competition observed in the country quota, also the qualification round coming up on Friday should be very interesting to follow. Though the weather was not that good on the first day of the tournament and it keeps changing rapidly, the forecasts are quite encouraging for the weekend. The players and fans shall be able to enjoy some sun and a great ambiance there on the beach of Jurmala.
The matches on schedule for Saturday and Sunday, August 30-31, will be available live and for free at http://m.lmt.lv/volejbols All matches played on the centre court up to the semis will be available also on Sportacentrs.com, whereas the semis and final matches will be broadcast live on TV6.
Click here for more information or visit the official website http://jurmala.beachvolley.lv
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