27/08/2013 12:00
U18 European Champs to spread Beach Volleyball fever in Belarus
2013 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Molodechno, Belarus, August 27, 2013. The city of Molodechno is about to play host to the 2013 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship that will run from this Wednesday up to Saturday, August 31. This is the very first time that the Republic of Belarus is hosting a major Beach Volleyball competition and the event is drawing much attention from fans and media alike. On Tuesday a press conference was held with the Mayor of Molodechno, Alexander Yakhnovets, CEV Technical Supervisor Laos Lukas (EST), home coaches Sergey Danilov and Alexander Dziadkou and Piotr Ivashko, the Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Minsk Region, all in attendance.
“I would like to welcome you all to Molodechno” said Mayor Yakhnovets. “We are very proud that our city is making history by hosting the first international Beach Volleyball competition in our country. We have set up a Beach Volleyball stadium in a very short time, something that is absolutely unique in our country. I would like to thank Boris Batoura for his help; he is the Governor of this Region and also the President of the Belarusian Volleyball Federation and without his assistance all this wouldn’t be possible. We are proud of what we have done so far and I am sure that all teams will enjoy a very good environment where to showcase their skills and play for gold. Hopefully the fans and people of Molodechno will get to see great games in the coming days and get a lot of positive emotions from this competition”.
“As representative of the CEV here in Molodechno, waiting for Jury President Maris Pekalis to arrive, I am evidently glad to see that this country has set up this great facility specifically for Beach Volleyball” CEV Technical Supervisor Laos Lukas said. “We would like to make sure that this stadium will be used in the future too for some more international events. Of course when you organize something for the first time you always make mistakes but all together we can make sure this will be a great tournament”.
“Last year Alexander Dziadkou and Yauhen Vishneuski won bronze at the U23 European Championship in Assen and this was the very first medal for Belarus in any Beach Volleyball championship. Of course we all hope that the younger generation can follow in their footsteps and repeat their success. Maybe this will happen here in Molodechno! This is the goal we have set but I know that this is shared by all other teams that are set to compete here. It will be difficult to make the podium for our young boys and girls” said one of the Belarusian coaches.
“We have been working hard to prepare for this home Championship and especially the girls have joined many competitions thereby getting the experience they needed” adds Sergey Danilov. “I hope they will be able to give the local audience something to cheer about. This applies especially to Viktoriya Shalayeuskaya who was born here in Molodechno. Only two years ago we started a serious development program for Beach Volleyball here in Belarus and I am happy that we are now hosting a European Championship here in our country to watch out for the stars of tomorrow”.
A native of Molodechno, Shalayeuskaya was in the spotlight on Tuesday: “It is like a dream; I mean I am going to play a European Championship here in my hometown. It feels just great! Of course we are excited but together with my partner Valeriya Babenka we hope to play our best and make our fans happy with our results” she said.
The competition is set to start on Wednesday at 9 am with pool play and will continue until late in the evening as the last matches on schedule will be played under floodlights.
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