Kardzhali, Bulgaria, June 21, 2014.  Serbia and Finland will be the two teams to face each other in the final match-up for the first place in Pool G of the first round of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup on Sunday in Kardzhali.  They defeated by two victories to none Albania and the home team of Bulgaria, respectively.  The latter will meet in the losers’ bracket with the loser finishing bottom of the standings and the winner staying in contention for the second place.

Serbia 2, Albania 0

The two duos of top-seeded Serbia cruised to the victory against Albania allowing the opponents only 35 point in total in the four sets played.  First, Sinisa Antonic / Marko Galesev beat Osman Qepa / Krist Martiro by 2:0 (21-9, 21-10) in 29 minutes and, then, Stefan Basta / Miljan Kikovic shut out Bruno Miculi / Klaudio Qerraxhia by 2:0 (21-8, 21-8) in 25 minutes.

Finland 2, Bulgaria 0

Finland vs. Bulgaria was the more competitive of the two semifinals.  In the first game, the home guys Delcho Raev / Kiril Hadzhiev survived for 37 minutes before surrendering to Timo Haavisto / Toni Vahela at 0:2 (15-21, 17-21).  Jyrki Nurminen / Harri Suonikko took one minute longer to finish their job against Bulgaria’s top duo Nikolay Kolev / Konstantin Mitev, defeating them by 2:0 (21-14, 21-19), despite the support of the Bulgarian fans from the stands.

Bulgaria 2, Albania 0

The afternoon rain in Kardzhali did not stop the two local pairs to finally please the crowd on the stands by showing their superiority over the Albanians on the court.  The Bulgarian duos crushed their opponents with quick and convincing victories.  Kolev / Mitev started the match-up off with a 2:0 (21-9, 21-8) against Bruno Miculi / Klaudio Qerraxhia, hammered out in 26 minutes, and Raev / Hadzhiev finished the job within another 28 minutes with a 2:0 (21-8, 21-8) against Qepa / Martiro.