04/09/2015 21:11
Young Finns make semis after hard-fought win over U17 world champions
2015 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Larnaka, Cyprus, September 4, 2015. The mixture of a Cuban coach with Finnish Beach Volleyball was not very common in Europe, until today. The rich talent of Santeri Siren and Miro Määttänen was combined in the perfect way tonight with the experience of their coach, Eddy Quiñones, and the Finns are celebrating in Larnaka their qualification into the last four of the 2015 CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship.
The best match of the tournament so far without a doubt, against the Swiss Florian Breer and Yves Haussener (who are the 2014 FIVB U17 world champions) was decided in three hard-fought sets and lasted exactly one hour (20-22, 21-19, 24-22).
“Luck was on our side, especially at the last point, but let’s not forget that luck is with the strong teams. It was hard work for us, as usual, and it’s a great feeling to achieve so much in such a small period of time,” said Santeri Siren afterwards.
“We were coming straight from a hard match with the Cypriots, and the last thing we needed was another marathon match. But, when you are winning, you forget all about tiredness,” added the exhausted Miro Määttänen.
Last year at the U21 World Championship held also in Larnaka, Mathias Berntsen played in the quarter-finals. This year, the Norwegian rising star managed to go one step further. Playing superbly throughout the tournament, together with fellow countryman Anders Berntsen Mol, they reached the last four after beating the powerful Russians Artem Yarzutkin and Maxim Sivolap in three sets (21-18, 19-21, 15-13).
“I remember the atmosphere, the weather and court conditions from last July, and I must admit that this helped me a lot. I was really tired at the end of the second set. But Anders gave me a lift seeing how well he was playing,” said Mathias Berntsen.
“We proved a lot of people wrong tonight. It was one of the hardest matches I have ever played, but in the end we are the ones who are celebrating. We haven’t got much time until tomorrow, but one thing is for certain, if we play the way we played tonight, then we have a great chance, whoever our opponent is,” said Anders Berntsen Mol.
You can follow the competition also on social media with the official hashtag #EuroBeachVolleyU20
Click here for more info including entry lists, results, pictures and much more
|