Vilnius, Lithuania, August 8, 2013. A sky full of clouds greeted the players for the start of the competition at the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship being held in Lithuanian capital Vilnius. The absence of sun in the morning did not keep the future stars of the sport from showing all their abilities in the initial matches of the tournament, characterized by a constant flow of emotions among the young participants, as well as by some surprises.
The Credit24 Arena in Vilnius lives with excitement the first day of the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship. Some of the favorites for the title already made their debut in the competition and starred in matches that demonstrated the spectacular fight for glory over the sand coming up in the Lithuanian capital.
One of the most exciting matches of the morning session was the clash between two of the candidates to create a sensation in the tournament, Russia’s Aleksander Margiev/Aleksander Kozorezov and Germany’s Max Betzien/Wito Krüger. The German side achieved an important victory in a disputed tie-break 2:1 (23-21, 21-23, 15-12) and completed an optimistic start of championship. “It was an incredible match for us, this is my first important tournament so I am pretty happy about this result”, said the newcomer, Wito Krüger. “We were able to keep cool to win (in the tie-break) and now we face the Czech team. We beat them in previous tournaments, so this is a good sign!”, commented teammate Max Betzien.
The men’s tournament was also marked by the victories of Italians De Fabritiis/Martinez and Poland’s Kaczmarek/Kaczmarek who certified their condition of team to watch.
The local heroes also had the opportunity to showcase all the emotions accumulated in the previous hours before the tournament and proved the difficulty involved in playing at home. It was in fact a dreaded debut for the locals, as both teams started with a defeat. The young Lithuanian team Urte Andriukaityte/Simona Vaiciukynaite lost against one of the candidates for the final rounds, Poland's Maria Wloch/Natalia Gruszczynska 0:2 (14-21, 17-21). “It is bad that we lost and we feel a little bit down at the moment. We were very nervous at the beggining and maybe that’s why we lost. Hopefully we will improve for our next match and we are looking forward to keep on playing here”, said Urte Andriukaityte.
All the attention in the morning was centered on Lithuanian heroines Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte. The local idols made their long awaited debut in the tournament and the stands were filled with fans who looked forward to attending the first steps in the competition of the main stars of the tournament. It was not going to be an easy first appearance for the 2012 FIVB Youth World champions, as on the other side of the net they were meeting Russia’s Anna Gorbunova, silver medallist from the 2013 U19 FIVB World Championship with her new partner, Ksenia Dabizha. The worst fears of the audience in Vilnius turned into a reality as the Russian team upset the Lithuanian stars in the tie-break 2:1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-12). Dissapointment then took over the local team. “It was a really bad match for us, I don’t know what’s going to happen next”, said Monika Povilaityte, as Ieva Dumbauskaite showed her lament for the result.
In the women’s competition, Dutch Joy Stubbe/Marloes Hesselink achieved a hard-fought victory against Russia’s Elena Sviridova/Maria Sviridova, one of the surprises of the morning, while Croatia’s Zrinka Sutalo/Sara Radanovic and Austrias’s Strauss, N./Strauss, T, also had to go to tie-break to solve their matches.
The emotions continue in Vilnius, as the tournament progresses and the participants fight to achieve their dreams on the sand.
Click here for more information on the tournament, including detailed schedule and results.