20/05/2015 20:30
Country Quota playoffs open Beach Volleyball party on Baltic coast
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Jurmala Masters
Jurmala, Latvia, May 20, 2015. The 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship got officially started on Wednesday with the Country Quota playoff matches of the Jurmala Masters. Teams from Latvia, Austria and Norway got the chance to test the white sand on Majori beach for what was only the ‘starter’ of a Beach Volleyball party that is set to reach its climax this weekend.
Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler of Austria opened the programme as they recorded a 21-15, 23-21 victory over their countrymen Daniel Hupfer/Julian Hörl. Still, Kunert and Dressler could not claim their second match of the day where Tobias Winter/Lorenz Petutschnig cruised to a 26-24, 21-13 victory to claim a spot in the qualification round.
Latvia’s Toms Smedins and Viktors Korzenevics delighted the home fans as they claimed a close match with their compatriots Rihards Finsters and Edgars Tocs (21-16, 21-19), this way getting the chance to join the qualification round starting on Thursday. The other Latvian team set to compete on Wednesday, last year’s silver medallists from the Jurmala Satellite, Haralds Regza and Armands Abolins, got a bye to move on straight to the qualification matches.
On the side court, four teams from Norway competed for two spots in the qualification round. Lars Tveit Retterholt/Bjarte Usken had to fight hard to edge past their compatriots Lars Fredrik Tvinde and Mathias Berntsen (21-19, 13-21, 16-14) whilst Oivind Hordvik/Morten Kvamsdal – who recently performed very well at the CEV Continental Cup tournament in Baden, Austria – needed two close sets (22-20, 21-17) to edge past Daniel Bergerud/Christian Sandlie Sørum.
On Thursday FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° will arrive in Jurmala. The qualification tournament is set to start at 9 am and entrance to the venue is available for free. The organisers have invited as many people as possible to exploit this opportunity to follow the actions of some of the world’s best Beach Volleyball players.
Starting from the quarterfinals, the matches of the Jurmala Masters will be broadcast across Latvia by TV 6, whilst live streaming will be provided for free by LAOLA1.tv for the global audience. As for the matches of the Latvian teams, starting from pool play on Friday, these will be available on LMT network mobile phones as well as on the Internet at http://straume.lmt.lv, http://delfi.lv and http://sportacentrs.com
Click here for further information or visit the official website http://jurmala.beachvolley.lv
Visit also the official Facebook page and Twitter account of the Jurmala Masters
|