23/08/2014 21:00
German and Polish teams dominate in Kristiansand
2014 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Kristiansand, Norway, August 23, 2014. The fairytale of reaching glory in the 2014 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship continues for eight teams that will meet in the spectacular semifinals of the tournament being held in Kristiansand. Representatives from Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Poland and Finland have been graced with the possibility of maintaining their dreams alive in the competition, and will clash in the decisive matches scheduled for Sunday.
In the boys’ tournament, the pre-favorites demonstrated their power with convincing qualifications for the semifinals, anticipating the flow of emotions that will fill Gimle Sandbaner Sports Center in the upcoming matches. In the disputed clashes of the day, Ruben Penninga and Nikita Artamonov from the Netherlands demonstrated their excellence with a fascinating victory over Belarus’ Dzmitry Abramenka/Aliaksei Papeka 2-1 (21-14, 18-21, 15-9). The quarterfinal encounter confirmed the great level of both duos during the tournament, in a combination of perfect Beach Volleyball that ended falling in the hands of the Dutchmen after the tie-break. “It's very good that we are in the semifinals. We had the goal to reach the quarterfinals, and now we are here; now I just want to win”, said Nikita Artamonov, while his teammate Ruben Penninga added: “This was my dream. I had no expectations, but I hoped to reach the final rounds. Now I think we can get all the way to the final match. Tomorrow it will be tough, but I'll give everything I can”.
Other of the names initially shortlisted for victory, 2014 FIVB U17 World Championship silver medallists Alejandro Huerta and Oscar Jimenez from Spain, presented one more exceptional performance in the tournament, after claiming their spot for the semifinals with a convincing victory over Switzerland’s Marco Back/Kilian Kasper 2-0 (21-12, 21-17), in a match dominated from beginning to end by the young Spaniards. “We are very happy because we have reached two semifinals in one year; one in this tournament and another one in the U17 World Championship in July, so we are very happy”, pointed out Alejandro Huerta. “We played at a great level, and performed very well throughout the match. Now we aim for gold and hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get it”, commented Oscar Jimenez.
Poland’s Maciej Lewicki and Adam Lenc continued the path taken by the rest of the favorites and reached semifinals after beating Finland’s Akseli Lankinen/Janne Marttila 0-2 (17-21, 19-21). The Polish players, fifth placed from the 2014 FIVB U17 World Championship, gave no options to the Finnish squad and controlled the match, thus earning the pass to the last day, while stating their candidacy to title.
The closing game contributed with emotion and first-rate Beach Volleyball to wrap up an awe-inspiring day, as Germany’s Julius Thole/Sven Winter and Russia’s Vasilii Ivanov/Vitalii Savchenko engaged in a spectacular display of strength. After a first set dominated by the Russian duo, Julius Thole and Sven Winter reacted, controlled the second period and sent the match to the tie-break. In a heart-breaking third set, with continuous match-balls for both sides, the German team used Thole’s blocking abilities and Winter’s effectiveness in attack to achieve the closing and emotional 20-18, so to accomplish a perfect day for the German delegation. “It was an unbelievable match! The Russians did a great job, it was such a tough game and I cannot find words for what I am feeling now. At the end, we fought very hard and we are really glad that we can try to get a medal,” commented an emotional Julius Thole.
German demonstration in Girl’s tournament
In the girls’ competition, the attention was centered on Norwegian representatives Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Hannah Sofie Perrens. The two young players captivated the hopes and dreams of the local fans, as they overcame round after round, to arrive at the stage to fight for a place in the best four teams of the tournament. The seventeen-year old Nordic stars added their names to the history of the sport in the country, as they achieved the best result in an Under 18 continental championship for Norway in 17 years. However, Germany’s Leonie Klinke and Lena Ottens stood in the way of local imaginings by presenting an efficient performance to win the quarterfinal 2-0 (21.14, 21-16) and earn a spot in the final day of the tournament. 17-year old Ottens and 16-year old Klinke became one of the revelations of the tournament with their mistake-free performances and their excellent run to the decisive stage. “It is very sad for us”, stated Norway’s Sunniva Helland-Hansen; “We struggled with the side-out, and Germany played well, they were better than us today. It's very disappointing because we hoped that we could win”. Her teammate also pointed out on the powerful display by the German duo. “We struggled with our side-out, reception and serve. That means that we did not get enough pressure to take points. Germany played well throughout the game and I feel that we lost to a better team. To win against them, we would have had to play incredibly well during all the match,” commented Hannah Sofie Perrens.
The German epic exhibition in the girls’ tournament was completed with the qualification for the semifinal of Marie Koloseus and Viktoria Seeber. Sixteen-year old Koloseus and seventeen-year old Seeber established their condition of favorites with a hard-fought victory over Czechs Tereza Kotlasova/Marie-Sara Stochlova 2-1 (21-14, 12-21, 15-11), by means of their strength and collective display, therefore earning the second spot in the Final Four for the German delegation.
The two German duos will be accompanied in the last day by Finland’s Ida Sinisalo and Niina Ahtiainen. The 17-year old players confirmed their great prospects with the qualification for the semifinals, hence clearly improving the ninth place obtained in the 2013 CEV U20 European Championship and the 17th position reached in the CEV U18 continental championship last year. Moreover, the young Finnish duo qualified for the podium-deciding matches in style, after their energetic triumph over Belarus’ Viktoryia Siakretava/Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya 2-0 (21-9, 21-11). “Everything went the way we wanted, it was brilliant and we are very happy for our first time in semifinals”, said Ida Sinisalo, who pointed out their dazzling performance in the game. “Every side out was a straight point for us; we had great service and our defense was also perfect. We will play our best tomorrow and we hope it will end in victory for us”.
The last spot in the semifinals went to Poland’s Aleksandra Stepien and Marta Pietroczuk. The Polish duo beat Russia’s Elizaveta Novikova/Daria Mastikova in the quarterfinals in a disputed match 2-0 (23-21, 21-16). Sixteen-year old Stepien and seventee-year old Pietroczuk had finished in 25th position in the 2014 FIVB U19 World Championship in Porto, but demonstrated an evident progression with an impressive participation throughout the tournament and the qualification to fight for the podium.
The thrill of seeing the future stars of European Beach Volleyball in action will continue in Kristiansand for one last day, as the most prominent upcoming figures of the sport will be crowned on Sunday with the induction of new champions in the exciting tournament taking place in Norway.
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