The Credit24 Arena in Vilnius brought together fans who battled the high temperatures in the Lithuanian capital by witnessing the debut of the local teams. The venue that holds the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship presented a magnificent image under the sun that appeared while the matches were progressing, and the stand filled up to live the excitement of the best young teams in Europe giving their first steps towards glory.

The emotion and surprises reached a level so high during the first day that most of the favorites suffered to find their way to victory. In the men’s competition, Norway’s Huus/Sørum had arrived to the tournament as main contenders for the European crown, after winning silver at the the 2013 FIVB U19 World Championship. However, each competition represents a completely different story, as the Nordic team learned, since they had to go to the tie-break to beat Austria’s Benedikt Kattner/Anton Menner 2:1 (13-21, 24-22, 15-12). A similar situation was faced by Dutch, Wouter van Gilst/Tom van Steenis who also needed three sets to beat Greece’s Ioannis Kavaratzis/Grigorios Kontostathis 2:1 (16-21, 21-18, 15-8). The major surprise in the men’s tournament featured Max Betzien/Wito Krüger from Germany who upset Russia’s and also favorites Aleksander Margiev/Aleksander Kozorezov 2:1 (23-21, 21-23, 15-12) in a spectacular match. “We were very nervous and we are not very happy that we lost. We hope that we will improve in the next matches”, said Russia’s Aleksander Margiev. The triumph by the German team, however, offered these young guys the optimism to try to advance to the final stages of competition. “Now we will prepare the next matches, we will study our tactics and we hope that we can keep on wining”, said Max Betzien, who was as happy to win for himself as for his teammate, Wito Krüger, in his first important match ever. 

Meanwhile, Poland’s Kaczmarek, L./Kaczmarek, S. did not find as many problems to start with a convincing victory, over Bulgaria’s Stefan Ivanov/Dimitar Kalchev 2-0 (21-15, 21-13), a pattern that was also followed by Italians Giacomo De Fabritiis/Javier Facundo Martinez against English Matthew Hunter/Ryan Stout 2:0 (21-16, 21-18). 

It was a difficult day for the local heroes in the men’s competition, but the Lithuanian players overcame the adversities and came back after debuting with defeats, so they were able to use the home ground factor and cause a sensation among the local fans that crowded the stands in the evening matches. Arnas Rumsevicius/Lukas Kazdailis, who aimed for domination in their group, lost in their debut against Poland’s Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak 0:2 (15-21, 12-21). Nonetheless, the fourth ranked team from the 2013 FIVB U19 World Championships produced an outstanding reaction and finished the day beating Sweden’s Johan Skoogh/Arno Slipac 2:0 (21-14, 21-19). "We kind of expected this victory, as we looked at our mistakes and took control of our weakness, so we could play better in this second match. Playing at home is always nice but to be honest, it gives you extra pressure!”, said Arnas Rumsevicius.

In this pool A, Bryl/Kujawiak from Poland stressed their position of dominance after finishing the day with two victories, against Lithuanians Rumsevicius/Kazdailis and then against French Maxime Thiercy/Romain Di Giantommaso. The 2012 CEV U20 European Championship silver medalist Michal Bryl with his new teammate Kacper Kujawiak showed efficiency and mental strength in their matches and almost booked the ticket to be in the last stages of the competition.  

In the meantime, young locals Matas Navickas/Edvinas Vaskelis, also initiated the tournament losing their opening match against Austria’s Paul Buchegger/Lukas Petter Stranger 2:0 (21-14, 21-12) but later they were able to end on a high note after beating Israeli’s Edan Shafat/Yoav Yosef Karavany 0:2 (14-21, 10-21). “We are very excited that we won”, said Matas Navickas, “(Playing at home) doesn’t really matter, as you have to play good anyways, but it is nice to perform in front of so many people; it is the first time that I play with so much audience!”, added Navickas.

Surprises in Women’s tournament

In the women’s competition, surprises also marked the course of the day. The biggest upset affected local heroines and main stars of the tournament Ieva Dumbauskaite/Monika Povilaityte who produced a collective lament among the Lithuanian fans when they lost their morning match against Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha/Anna Gorbunova 2:1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-12). The stress of the long awaited debut and the pressure posed on the young local players in the previous hours affected Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte, who “played very bad”, as acknowledged Monika Povilaityte.  However, the local heroines presented a sensational reaction and beat Latvia's  Alise Pastare/Anete Brinke 2:0 (21-17, 22-20) in the second match, showing great composure and an excellent demonstration of effectiveness.

The Russian team, however, lead by the silver medalist from the 2013 FIVB U19 World Championship, Anna Gorbunova, was also protagonist of another of the surprises of the day, this time in the opposite end of the spectrum, in a confirmation of the great level of the tournament. After upsetting the local heroines, the Russians lost in the second match against France’s Pauline Martin/Carrere Margaux, in a game also decided in the tie-break 1:2 (22-20, 17-21, 10-15). “It is only the pool round, a lot of things can change”, had presciently announced Anna Gorbunova after the victory in the first match, a remark confirmed a few hours later. 

Simultaneuosly, the younger Lithuanian team, Urte Andriukaityte/Simona Vaiciukynaite were also unable to present a good start, as the newcomers lost their initial match against Poland’s Maria Wloch/Natalia Gruszczynska 0-2 (14-21, 17-21)  but, following the Lithuanian pattern of the evening, the Credit24 Arena spectators gave wings to the 17-year-old players, who beat Finland’s Ida Sinisalo/Nina Ahtiainen in a disputed and emotional match 2:1 (18-21, 21-15, 15-13). 

In the rest of the women’s competition, the first day of the tournament left Karolina Baran/Jagoda Gruszczynska from Poland, Sandra Ittlinger/Yanina Weiland from Germany and Nina Betschart/Nicole Eiholzer from Switzerland as the biggest names in the race for the final. The three teams closed all their games with a series of convincing victories and hence take the pole position in the run towards glory. Actually, Switzerland’s Betschart/Eiholzer only lost 24 points total in the two matches they played, a sensational show of strength by the bronze medalists from the 2012 CEV U18 European Championship.  “It is great that we could win both matches and I hope we can continue winning”, said Swiss Nicole Eiholzer. “Of course, it is only the pool round and there’s still a long way to go but it is important that we could start like this”, added the Swiss player. Baran/Gruszczynska kept the score of points received in each set under the barrier of 17 points, while Ittlinger/Weiland also closed their matches in two sets. 

The initial day of the exciting CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship comes to an end and the up-and-coming stars of the sport await a new struggle on the sand after leaving spectacular demonstrations of power and emotional performances in their quest to glory. The passion for the sport will be again displayed on Friday, in the second day of the competition. 

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