07/05/2015 15:48
Home teams determined to shine as Continental Cup stops in Montpellier
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - Men & Women
Montpellier, France, May 7, 2015. The 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup is just about to stop in Montpellier where the teams of France will be trying to exploit the home advantage to top the charts in Pool D and secure a spot in the final stage of the competition scheduled for next year. The hosts got the right boost a couple of weeks ago as Youssef Krou and Edouard Rowlandson (pictured) opened their 2015 season with a bronze medal at the FIVB Fuzhou Open in China.
The tournament will get underway on Saturday morning at the venue set up at Parc de la Rauze with France welcoming teams from Italy and Denmark as well as duos from Slovakia and Israel for the men’s and women’s competition, respectively. If the eventual winners will move on straight to the Continental Cup Finals, the second and third-placed teams will also continue to chase their dream to compete at Rio 2016 via the 4th Round which is due to follow later this summer.
France’s Krou/Rowlandson and their compatriots Jean-Baptiste Daguerre/Yannick Salvetti will play Denmark in the semis on Saturday and if they win, they will then take on Italy or Slovakia. As for the ladies, Laura Longuet/Alexandra Jupiter and Melinda Adelin/Ophélie Lusson are also set to play Denmark in the semis and would then test the likes of Italy or Israel in the final.
The mentor of the French national team, Stéphane Canet, is convinced that his players are in the ideal shape to enter this competition. “The group is in high spirits especially after Youssef and Edouard started the season by winning this bronze medal in China,” he says. “There was no better way to start the 2015 campaign whilst Jean-Baptiste and Yannick also can’t wait to take it to the sand. They also like challenges and since the beginning of their partnership, they never missed on important goals, becoming national champions last year and winning a bronze medal at the Mediterranean Games. The Continental Cup is really that kind of competition that fits to them.”
As for Denmark, Canet says: “Since they do not have the budget to compete on the World Tour, they have focussed their preparations on the Continental Cup. We will have to be careful and start immediately with the right pace. At this stage, they are not stronger than us. Our main opponent is Italy who is going to be represented by the reigning European champions Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo, who have also won World Tour stops last year. They are strong but not unbeatable as shown by Daguerre and Salvetti who thrashed them at the Mediterranean Games in Turkey. We have to exploit our speed, explosiveness and courage. It would be great to beat Italy to assert that France is also a force to be reckoned with in Europe. The fact that we are playing at home may make our opponents tremble whilst, on the other hand, it will provide some extra motivation for our players who are striving for further acknowledgment by the fans and are willing to show that they can play good Beach Volleyball.”
The home pairs set to represent France in the women’s competition are fairly new since their members have joined forces only earlier this year. “We have two new players who were teamed with another two with more experience. Alexandra Jupiter, who used to play indoors, is paired with Laura Longuet, whilst 20-year old Ophélie Lusson is set to play alongside Melinda Adelin. The challenge is a little bit more demanding for them since they practically have no experience,” explains their mentor Mathieu Hamel. However, they have been working hard for about four months already and are motivated to perform well on the home stage. “We stand a chance to make the final as we play Denmark in the semis,” Hamel continues. “However, we have to take this first round very seriously before we take on Italy, which belongs to the real international elite. Our minimum goal is to finish second in the pool but why to rule out a sensation in an eventual final with the Italians, especially since they know nothing about our teams?”
Click here for further information on the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
|