17/09/2014 10:19
Last tickets to Continental Cup third Round at stake this weekend
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - Men & Women
Luxembourg, September 17, 2014. The 2nd Round of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup will come to a close this coming weekend with another three tournaments which will determine the last countries moving on to the 3rd Round of the competition and keeping alive their dreams of making the Beach Volleyball tournament of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
After the event held in Belgrade in late August, the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup will now stop for the first time in Scotland and return to Denmark and Malta after these countries had played host to Sub-Zonal events for the inaugural edition of the Continental Cup back in 2010.
The home heroines of Denmark will be followed closely by Beach Volleyball fans from Odense and its neighbourhoods as they try to stand the challenge brought by teams from Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Slovenia and hope to exploit the home advantage to continue their Olympic campaign. The men’s competition in Odense will feature the same nations but Denmark whose men were already promoted to the 3rd Round last June after finishing second to the Czech Republic in a 1st Round tournament held in Umag, Croatia. Teams from Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Slovenia will be fighting for the two tickets at stake to make the 3rd Round coming up next year.
A second tournament is going to be held at Portobello in Edinburgh, thereby marking the first time an international Beach Volleyball competition of this calibre is organised in Scotland. The home heroines – including 2012 Olympian Shauna Mullin and the captain of Great Britain’s Volleyball team at London 2012, Lynne Beattie – will try to have the upper hand in their matches with teams from another two “home nations”, i.e. England and Northern Ireland, and from the Republic of Ireland. The Scots will have a shot at a spot in the 3rd Round also in the men’s competition as they seem – at least on paper – stronger than their opponents from Ireland and Northern Ireland, with Slovakia being the outsiders of the Pool.
The third and last 2nd Round tournament will be held on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Mellieha Bay will be the venue of Pool C which features many newcomers on the stage of the Continental Cup. Men’s teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Moldova, Romania, and San Marino will compete in Mellieha. Israel seems to have a shot at one of the two spots at stake for the 3rd Round since their teams – Sean Faiga/Ariel Hilman and Alon Sanderovich/Netanel Ohana – boast international experience and have been a regular feature on the European circuit this summer. Malta will be represented in the women’s competition where the local teams take on pairs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Romania, and Turkey in an attempt to cause a home sensation.
About the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
The winners of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup will be determined in 2016 and these countries will qualify one pair for the Beach Volleyball tournament of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A total of 44 National Federations, with 40 represented in both genders, registered to participate in the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. This accounts for an impressive 80% of the CEV member countries, with a terrific increase since the inaugural edition completed in 2012 where 31 and 32 National Federations had joined the men’s and women’s competition respectively.
The following countries are making their debut after missing the inaugural CEV Continental Cup leading up to the 2012 London Olympics: Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Moldova and San Marino. After Great Britain participated in the 2010-2012 edition, this time the home countries England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland have registered to join this quest to fulfil every athlete’s dream to participate in the Olympic Games.
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