23/07/2015 10:34
Latvia’s Beach Volleyball stars in the making travel to Armenia for EEVZA U18 Championships waiting for major highlight of the season on home sand
News from the National Federations
Riga, Latvia, July 23, 2015. The next generation of Latvian Beach Volleyball players left for Armenia on Wednesday to participate in the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) U18 Beach Volleyball Championships, which will be beneficial as they continue their preparations for the most important competition this season – the 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championships which is due to take place in their country’s capital Riga from August 6 through 9.
The EEVZA U18 Championship will be taking place in Armenia right on the shores of Lake Sevan, the largest one in the Caucasus region, which is located at 1,900 meters above sea level. Latvia will be represented by four pairs with Mihails Samoilovs/Aleksandrs Nasonovs and Atvars Ozolins/Kristaps Smits competing in the boys’ tournament while Tina Laura Graudina/Paula Nikola Neciporuka and Elza Smilskalne/Linda Elizabete Gramberga will be carrying Latvia’s dreams of glory in the girls’ event.
The young Latvian Beach Volleyball players have travelled to Armenia accompanied by national team coach Aigars Birzulis as well as by the boys’ second coach Lauris Iecelnieks since their primary mentor Genadijs Samoilovs is currently in Japan together with the country’s Beach Volleyball icons, Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, who are competing at the FIVB Yokohama Grand Slam in the Land of the Rising Sun.
After completion of the EEVZA U18 Championship at Lake Sevan, the Latvian coaching staff will announce the names of the players that will compete at the home U18 European Championships in Riga where Latvia – as host country – will be able to line up as many as three pairs per gender.
At the EEVZA U18 Championship 12 tandems per gender will play in the main draw, where they will be divided into four groups consisting of three teams each. Young Beach Volleyball players from Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine are set to participate in the competition, the first ever international Beach Volleyball event organised in Armenia.
The 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championships are going to be one of this season’s most prominent sporting events in Latvia. The tournament will be taking place at the Beach Box Elkor stadium from August 6 through 9. It is the first time that such large-scale international Beach Volleyball tournament is taking place in Latvia and in its capital city.
As many as 64 pairs – 32 per gender – from 30 European countries will participate in the tournament. Even though this is an age-group competition, from an organisational standpoint it does not differ much from ‘senior’ events and it actually involves a much larger number of players than the Satellite and Masters tournaments held last year and in May 2015 in Latvia’s most popular seaside resort, Jurmala.
The tournament at the Beach Volleyball stadium Beach Box Elkor will take place on four courts, with another two being set up for the warm up. Especially for the Championships the organisers will provide stands with a capacity of up to 1,000 seats to follow the matches on the centre court while bleaches accommodating another 300 fans will be available on court 2.
The fans will not only have the opportunity to watch Europe’s Beach Volleyball stars in the making while they compete for the medals, but they will also be able to join various contests and side activities. The entrance to the competition venue will be free of charge for the entire duration of the championship.
Picture: Tina Graudina will carry Latvia’s hopes for glory at the EEVZA U18 Championships at Lake Sevan after two weeks ago she won silver at the CEV Satellite in Vaduz alongside 2009 European champion Inese Jursone
For further information visit www.eevza.eu
|