28/08/2015 23:15
Norwegian teams march on, day of setbacks for Russia at Macedo de Cavaleiros, dream still alive for home guys
2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal, August 28, 2015. The second day of men’s competition at the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship was one to forget for Russia as their top duo Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin – gold medallists from last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing – had to withdraw from the competition due to illness. Russia’s second duo Igor Velichko/Maxim Sivolap, on the other hand, finished pool play in a rather disappointing third place.
Norway, on the other hand, continues to dominate the scene. 2014 U22 European champions Christian Sandlie Sørum/Runar Torsvik Sannarnes and their compatriots Anders Berntsen/Mathias Berntsen topped the charts of Pool A and B, respectively, without dropping a single set.
The same feat was achieved also by reigning U21 world champions, Poland’s Michal Bryl and Kacper Kujawiak, France’s Romain Di Giantommaso/Maxime Thiercy – bronze medallists at last year’s U21 World Champs – and by Austria’s Martin Ermacora/Moritz Bernd Pristauz-Telsnigg.
Germany’s Niklas Rudolf/Clemens Wickler, another two contenders for the medals after last year they won gold at the U20 European Championship, forfeited their last pool match with Belarus’s Anton Dedkov/Pavel Vauchkevich but still topped the charts of Pool F as did also their compatriots Yannick Harms/Mirko Schneider who recorded three straight victories in Pool G.
Ondrej Perusic and Tomas Vana of the Czech Republic finished first in Pool H as they beat Italy’s Giacomo De Fabritiis/Davide Pellegrino 21-19, 21-16 in a clash for the leadership in the group.
Diogo Ferreira Maia and José Silva saved the honour of the host country as they finished third in Pool A, this way making it to the elimination round, as did also Bernardo Silva/Bernardo Leite who had to fight for three sets before edging their neighbours Hugo Rojas/Lorenzo Arabisen from Spain 21-23, 21-17, 16-14.
Silva/Leite will now play Italy’s De Fabritiis/Pellegrino in the first elimination round. “All teams are strong at this stage, but if we play like we did in this last match and if we have the support of the fans like we had today, I believe we stand a chance of making Round 2,” Bernardo Silva says.
Portugal’s third tandem Francisco Pombeiro/Jose Jardim recorded a victory over Belgium’s Martijn Verspecht and Kwinten Luyckx in three sets (15-21, 21-11, 15-12) but that wasn’t enough to secure promotion to the next round of the tournament.
“We celebrated only for a few minutes as we were soon told that we haven’t reached the next stage by only five points. We played in a age-group tournament whose limit is two years higher than our current age and the draw set us with great teams from Switzerland and France. Our task was difficult but we think that we played well in all our matches, so we leave the competition with a positive feeling as we are already thinking about our participation in the U20 European Championship coming up next week in Cyprus,” Pombeiro and Jardim said.
All matches of the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship are streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
You can follow the competition also on social media with the official hashtag #EuroBeachVolleyU22
Click here for more info including entry lists, results, pictures and much more
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