17/06/2012 21:00
Poland's rising stars claim CEV Satellite in Umag
CEV Beach Volleyball Challenger & Satellites
Umag, Croatia, June 17, 2012. Poland’s young duo Bartosz Losiak and Piotr Kantor claimed on Sunday the inaugural CEV Satellite tournament in Umag after beating Dollinger/Stiel of Germany in a splendid final match that was played right by the seaside there on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.
Kantor/Losiak had previously qualified for the last act of the tournament after edging Russia’s Ruslan Bykanov and Pavel Karpukhin in the first semifinal (21-19, 21-18). As for Armin Dollinger and Malte Stiel, they cruised to the final of the CEV Satellite in Umag after causing quite a real surprise in the other semifinal where they had downed Switzerland’s Mirco Gerson and Philip Gabathuler in straight sets as well (21-14, 21-19).
Bykanov/Karpukhin eventually settled for third place after going for a 21-19, 21-17 to power past Gerson/Gabathuler and claim their best result on international stage which is even more valuable since they had started their campaign in Umag via the qualification round on Thursday.
The absolute climax of the tournament, i.e. the final match, was played in an ideal scenario, with perfect weather conditions and many Beach Volleyball fans that had got together on the stands. The players paid back with a splendid match marked by continuous turnarounds and great actions. Dollinger and Stiel came out strongly by seizing the opening set (21-19) but their opponents from Poland stormed back by pocketing the next section with a terrific 21-10. Although they are only 20 years old, the guys from Poland showed great skills and determination to take also the deciding tie-break (16-14) and celebrate their first senior triumph after collecting many medals in the past years while entering various junior/youth European and World Champs.
“Umag is a very lucky place for Poland as we have claimed here our first international tournament and last year our compatriots were crowned youth world champions” they said after the awarding ceremony. “The great location, the sun and the sea make Umag the right place for playing elite Beach Volleyball” they concluded.
Click here for more information, including detailed results and a picture gallery
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