Schinias, Greece, June 21, 2014.  Greece won its two match-ups on the first competition day in the men’s Pool E of the first round of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.  The home guys defeated Romania in one of the semifinals and then overpowered Belarus in the final.  On Sunday Romania and San Marion will first battle to avoid the last fourth place and then the winner will take on Belarus for the second place.

Belarus 2, San Marino 0

The first semifinal match-up offered one quick and straightforward game and one long three-set battle.  On the center court, Aliaksandr Dziadkou / Aliaksandr Kavalenka took only 29 minutes to shut out Lorenzo Benvenuti / Andrea Lazzarini by 2:0 (21-17, 21-11), while on the second court the duel between Anton Dedkov / Anton Sinhayeuski and Francesco Tabarini / Ivo Mattia Valentini lasted for 53 minutes with the Belarusians emerging victorious with 2:1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-13).

Greece 2, Romania 0

The home favorites did not encounter any grave problems coping with the Romanians as both games ended in straight sets.  Georgios Kotsilianos / Nicos Zoupani shut out Ioan Marius Rosu / Doru Ghimes by 2:0 (21-12, 21-12) in 31 minutes and Fernandos Billiris / Ioannis Roumeliotakis beat Lucian Badiceanu / Robert Virlan by 2:0 (21-14, 21-13) in 34 minutes to qualify their country to the final

Belarus 1, Greece 2

The two winning teams from the semifinal round locked horns to determine the winner of the pool.  Belarus took the lead, scoring the first victory through Dziadkou / Kavalenka who defeated Billiris / Roumeliotakis by 2:0 (21-17, 21-18) in 35 minutes.  Greece managed to tie the match-up as Kotsilianos / Zoupani responded with a 2:0 (22-20, 23-21) against Dedkov / Sinhayeuski, hammered out in 43 minutes.  So it was down to a third game to determine the winner.  It was an exciting game and was watched by a lot of people.  Kotsilianos / Zoupani turned into the fans’ heroes as they emerged victorious with a difficult 2:0 (21-15, 23-21) over Dziadkou / Kavalenka.  The first set was very easy for the Greek team, but, in the second, both teams had to work hard to get the result they wanted.  Zoupani's blocking and powerful strikes gave the set to Greece as well the match to secure Greece’s place directly in the third round of the Continental Cup.