08/08/2015 19:07
Latvia, Sweden, Austria & Czech Republic to semifinals U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Riga, Latvia, August 8, 2015. With one day to go, the best four teams in the women’s tournament of the 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship are known. Isabelle Haak / Fanny Åhman (Sweden), Ilona Kiss / Katharina Holzer (Austria), Tereza Kotlasova / Marie-Sara Stochlova (Czech Republic) and the local favourites Tina Graudina and Paula Neciporuka (Latvia) all made it to the semifinals.
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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
Round 1
On Saturday morning the elimination phase of the women’s tournament started with the first knock-out round. Austria, Estonia, Turkey and Poland all booked relatively easy 2-0 victories. The other four matches were decided after a thrilling third set. Latvia’s Linda Elizabete Gramberga and Elza Smilskalne escaped against Cyprus after claiming the tiebreak with 18-16. The other dramatic clashes were won by Sweden, Ukraine and Greece.
Round 2
In the second knock-out round there was only one third set needed. The Austrian girls Ilona Kiss and Katharina Holzer beat their neighbours from Germany, Marie Koloseus and Emma Cyris, with 2-1. In the other matches the difference in quality was more obvious. The Latvian favourites Tina Graudina and Paula Neciporuka locked a spot in the quarterfinals by beating Poland with 2-0. For their training partners Linda Elizabete Gramberga and Elza Smilskalne the tournament ended, they had no answer to the strong Belgian team.
Besides Belgium, also the other team from the Low Lands impressed. Nika Daalderop and Anke van As wiped Turkey off the sand with 21-8, 21-10. Especially the performance of Daalderop was impressive. 10 out of the 42 points were direct service aces from the 16-year-old. Besides Austria, Latvia, Belgium and The Netherlands also Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and Italy made it to the last eight.
Quarterfinals
In the quarterfinals the local favourites Tina Graudina and Paula Neciporuka kept the Latvian spirit alive. They lost the first set from Nika Daalderop and Anke van As from The Netherlands, mostly due to six aces from van As.
In the second set Graudina and Neciporuka managed to take over the initiative. In the tiebreak The Netherlands came back from 9-4 to 9-9, but after this comeback the resistance stopped. Latvia won the third set with 15-10 and qualified for the semifinals.
‘I think we played a perfect game,’ said the happy Tina Graudina. ‘Of course, there were some minor mistakes, but overall we played great. In the third set we were leading 9-5 and then we let the Dutch girls catch up until 9-9. Fortunately our block worked well at the end.’
‘I am playing with the best blocker in the tournament’, added Paula Neciporuka.
Besides Latvia also Austria, Sweden and Czech Republic reached the last four. Austria beat Belgium with 2-0, and Czech Republic did the same with Italy.
The most exciting match was played on court 2, where Sweden prevailed over Russia with 15-13 in the tiebreak.
Sunday
On Sunday the semifinals, the bronze medal match and the final will be played. The losers of the quarterfinals play on in the classification matches for the 5th – 8th place.
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