05/06/2016 13:15
Russia vie for historic European crown as Italians chase second title
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Biel / Bienne, Switzerland, June 5, 2016. On Sunday afternoon Russia will have a shot at their first ever European Championship gold medal following the terrific performance displayed by Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov (pictured) in their semi-final match with Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel of Poland (21-17, 21-17). Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo of Italy, on the other hand, will be vying for their second European crown after they stood on top of the podium in 2014 when the championship was played on home sand in Cagliari. Nicolai/Lupo came back from a real blow in the first set of their semi-final with 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen to delight an almost sell-out crowd with a wide array of Beach Volleyball skills of the finest level (12-21, 21-16, 15-10).
The 2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final is being extensively covered on the CEV website (click here) as well as on all CEV social media pages; a comprehensive live gallery of the competition is available here while additional information can be found on the organisers’ website www.beacheuro2016.ch.
Semenov/Krasilnikov write history for Russia
Regardless of the final outcome, the first semi-final of the 2016 #EuroBeachVolley was anyway going to produce a historic result because either Poland and Russia hadn’t previously made it as far as to contest the men’s gold medal match since the CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship was first contested back in 1993.
A few days ago only a few could have reckoned with Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov as one of the two teams eventually vying for gold, especially after they dropped two straight matches in their pool. However, Semenov and Krasilnikov stepped up their efforts as the tournament progressed and also had a little luck on their side – they made it through to the quarterfinals following withdrawals by teams from France and Poland in the first and second elimination rounds, respectively.
After mastering difficult and extremely challenging weather conditions in their quarterfinal match with Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, the Russians rose to the occasion as the sun finally came out on Sunday morning for their semi-final with Poland’s Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek. Semenov’s blocks combined with outstanding defence play by Krasilnikov produced an unsurmountable winning mix as the Russians controlled the match almost from start to end with the only exception coming in the second set when they briefly trailed 12-13. A time-out was obviously the right move at this stage since they claimed nine of the 13 points that followed to seal a 21-17, 21-17 win. By making it to the final match of the championship in Biel / Bienne, Semenov and Krasilnikov have already improved on Russia’s best result to date – the bronze medal won by Dmitry Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky at Hamburg in 2008.
Lupo and Nicolai come from behind to vie for second European crown
The second semi-final was a joy to watch for the many spectators that had flocked to the iconic venue set up right by the lakeside and finally enjoyed some sunshine and mild temperatures. Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen displayed the quintessence of what they call ‘Power Volleyball’ to cruise to a compelling 21-12 win in the opening set. Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo kind of woke up after trailing also in the early stages of the second set – and a terrific 12-4 run in their favour paved the way towards a 21-16 win that looked almost unreal at the beginning of the second frame. Nicolai’s towering block and Lupo’s spectacular actions were the best display of world-class Beach Volleyball the audience could ask for. On the other hand, Brouwer and Meeuwsen gave away too many points and a service error by the Dutchmen contributed to the 15-10 that sealed the 2-1 win for the Italians.
“We have just made it to the final match of the European Championship and we are obviously proud of this achievement,” Paolo Nicolai said. “Many thanks to the audience for all their support and also to my partner who played a great match. As for the final with the Russians, I expect a three-sets match like almost all previous matches we have had with them so far. We will work on the right game plan but the key is to remain as focussed as we have been also in the semi with the Dutchmen.”
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