Umag, Croatia, June 29, 2014.  The Czech Republic expectedly won Pool C of the 1st round in the men’s 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup and qualified for the 3rd round next year after winning the final match-up in Umag against Denmark.  The Danes joined the Czechs later on, as they confirmed their second place by defeating the home team of Croatia in the last match-up on schedule in Umag.  The teams of Croatia and Luxembourg will have to go through the 2nd round later this summer.

Czech Republic 2, Denmark 1

Czech duo David Kufa / David Lenc did not find its game against Danish pair Martin Olesen / Peter Kildegaard, who took 34 minutes to win by 2:0 (21-18, 21-15).  Younger Kufa brother, Robert, had to save the day for the Czech team.  Robert Kufa / Jan Dumek played a very exciting and tight match with Danish duo Mads Rosager / Anders Lund Hoyer.  The guys showed some great beach volleyball during the three sets and after more than an hour the Czechs celebrated with a 2:1 (27-25, 17-21, 15-10) victory.  A golden match was played between Kufa / Dumek and Olesen / Kildegaard.  After turning previous match to their side, Kufa / Dumek were too self-confident to lose today, so a 2:0 (21-17, 21-17) brought the first place to the Czech team.

Jan Dumek, Czech Republic:  “I am happy that today we won two great matches.  We did not play well yesterday, but we caught our rhythm today.  Will to win and fighting hard was our recipe – and that is what beach volleyball is about.”

Denmark 2, Croatia 0

The young Croatian players, despite their motivation and effort, did not manage to surprise the more experienced Danish team, but they did not give up easily.  In the first match Olesen / Kildegaard had harder time beating Niksa Dell'Orco / Mate Glaurdic than yesterday, but they succeeded in two sets – 2:0 (21-19, 22-20).  Rosager / Hoyer had to play three sets against Ivan Zeljkovic / Filip Silic.  In a thrilling match, Rosager / Hoyer were not distracted by the cheering Croatian crowd and celebrated with 2:1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-11).

Peter Kildegaard, Denmark:  “Today we had to play against the Czechs and then against Croatia.  We could definitely feel the tiredness from the first match-up, but luckily we managed to get through against the Croatians.  It was vital for us to catch our routine in order to win.”