Odense, Denmark, September 21, 2014. Slovenia and Croatia booked their spots in the third round of the men’s 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup after qualifying for the final match-up in Pool A of the second round held in Odense, Denmark. In the semifinal clashes they overcame the resistance of Luxembourg and Hungary, respectively, each by two victories to none. A golden match in the final gave Slovenia the edge to win the tournament.
Hungary 0, Croatia 2
The first match of this semifinal match-up on centre court featured Mate Leiszt / Izsak Soos of Hungary and Niksa Dell’Orco / Ivan Djordjevic of Croatia. Hungary had two set points in the first set at 20-19 and 21-20, but the Croats managed to keep their heads calm and turned the set over to a 23-21 win. Hungary was determined to get back in the game in the second set winning it as clear as 21-14. Then it was all to be decided in the third set. Here Croatia had the advantage and closed the match at 2:1 (23-21, 14-21, 15-10) after 57 exiting minutes. In the second match Croatia’s Ivan Zeljkovic / Filip Silic had an easier time winning against Hungary’s Gabor Nacsa / Laszlo Racz. After 33 minutes of action in the sand in Odense, Zeljkovic / Silic had won by 2:0 (21-18, 21-13) securing Croatia’s spot in the final.
Ivan Zeljkovic, player of Croatia: “We were a disaster in the second set, where we completely fell apart. But we play these kind of matches every week and are used to the pressure. So I am very happy, that we fixed our game in the third set and played the way we can. Our reception gets better and that was decisive today.”
Slovenia 2, Luxembourg 0
In the first game Slovenians Jure Peter Bedrac / Danijel Pokersnik faced Ben Angelsberg / Djamel Bernard Belhaouci from Luxembourg. Slovenia was on top the match from the start and with great blocking from Pokersnik cruised to a 2:0 (21-16, 21-11) win. In the second match between Slovenia and Luxembourg, Leo Mohoric / Klemen Ponikvar faced Gil Nizard / Andy Koenig. The Slovenian couple needed 35 minutes to secure the spot in the final with a clear 2:0 (21-14, 21-10) win.
Klemen Ponikvar, player of Slovenia: “Luxembourg had a really good start of the first set, but fortunately we came back and found our game soon enough to take the set. In the second set we had the lead from the beginning, we started to serve a lot better. Luxembourg is a team we had to beat; we did and we are full of motivation for the final.”
Croatia 1, Slovenia 2
Croatia’s Niksa Dell’Orco / Ivan Djordjevic faced Slovenia’s Jure Peter Bedrac / Danijel Pokersnik on court 1. The Slovenian pair took the lead from the beginning until 11-11. Even though Croatia fought well, Slovenia managed to close the first set with an ace for 21-15. Croatia had the lead until 13-12 in the second set. Then Slovenia took the lead for the first time and never looked back. Bedrac / Pokersnik won the set by 21-17 and the match by 2:0. With the Slovenian win on court 1, Croatia’s Ivan Zeljkovic / Filip Silic from Croatia had to beat Slovenia’s Leo Mohoric / Klemen Ponikvar to keep Croatia alive in the final. It did not look too good after the first set, which Slovenia won by an impressive 21-14. In the second set Zeljkovic / Silic found their very best blocking game and led all the way until 19-19. Even though Slovenia equalized the score, the Croats kept their nerves and managed to close the set at 21-19 and even the score at 1:1. Croatia took a three-point lead from the beginning of the third set and held it through the end winning by 15-11. The golden match that followed turned into a real battle between Zeljkovic / Silic from Croatia and Bedrac / Pokersnik from Slovenia. Slovenia started off on fire and quickly won the first set by 21-15. Croatia clawed back in the second set with a 21-17 win which levelled the score at 1:1. One last set was then needed to determine the winner, and here Slovenia was on top from start to end winning by 15-11.
Danijel Pokersnik, player of Slovenia: “I feel good. Very good! We played a good first set where we stuck to our game plan. In the second set we lost our rhythm and started making unnecessary mistakes. This helped Croatia back into the match. But we were lucky to get a good start of the third set, we fought hard and won in the end.”
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