07/08/2015 18:34
24 women’s teams left at the 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Riga
2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Riga, Latvia, August 7, 2015. Riga, ‘the Paris of the North’, was treated with perfect weather conditions once again on Friday. Under the hot sun 24 women’s teams survived the first cut and advanced to the elimination games, which will start on Saturday morning. All the favourite teams are still in the running, only Finland (number 6 seed) was eliminated from the 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship.
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The 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championships in Riga is being covered extensively also on Twitter and Facebook with the official hashtag being #EuroBeachVolleyU18
The following teams finished first in their pools:
A: Tina Graudina/Paula Neciporuka from Latvia
B: Marie Koloseus/Emma Cyris from Germany
C: Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya/Maria Voronina from Russia
D: Tereza Kotlasova/Marie-Sara Stochlova from Czech Republic
E: Chiara They/Reka Orsi Toth from Italy
F: Tijana Basic/Irena Drobnjak from Serbia
G: Sarah Vermote/Anke Vandycke from Belgium
H: Nika Daalderop/Anke van As from The Netherlands
All above teams earned three victories in three games and haven’t tasted the bitterness of a loss yet. The pool winners will advance directly to the 2nd elimination round (last 16). They will play against the winners of the 1st elimination round.
Unfortunately the tournament has ended for the following teams: Slovakia, France, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Belarus and Israel, because they lost all of their games and ended fourth in their pools.
Drama in decisive matches
There was enough drama during the games on Friday. The Latvian couple Linda Gramberga/Elza Smilškalne barely made it out of their pool B. In a thrilling battle they beat the French duo Inès Ben Jaddi/Mathilde Ruchaud after surviving to four match points in the tiebreak. Gramberga and Smilškalne managed to come back and win the third set with 16-14.
‘The game was stressful, it’s difficult for us to keep our performance consistent throughout the game,’ Gramberga said after the thrilling third set. ‘Many thanks to our fans, without their support we wouldn’t have won.’
‘To overcome four match points, I never experienced that’, added Gramberga’s partner Elza Smilskalne after the match. ‘We are very happy that we advanced to the elimination round and that we can continue in this tournament.’
The battles between Lithuania vs Belarus and Turkey vs Slovakia weren’t less dramatic. Also in these matches a third set was necessary to determine the team which will continue in the tournament. Lithuania and Turkey became the winners of these heart-breaking duels.
Other Latvian teams
The Latvian favourites Tina Graudina/Paula Neciporuka kept their clean sheet by beating the Austrian team Ilona Kiss/Katharina Holzer with 2-0 (21-15, 21-14). The top seed didn’t lose a single set so far, and is directly qualified for the 2nd elimination round.
‘In the pool plays our opponents became stronger and stronger with each match, therefore we have slowly warmed-up for the most important games,’ explained Paula Neciporuka. ‘For now, it’s important to have a good rest until the start of the elimination games.’
Also Ieva Petrova/Annija Jurdza advanced to the elimination games after beating the Portuguese girls Ines Castro/Mariana Nora with 2-0 (22-20, 21-13).
Tomorrow there’s a full programme in Riga with the 1st and 2nd elimination rounds and the quarter finals to follow.
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