10/05/2015 13:59
Cyprus teams eliminated from Continental Cup, still take positives from the experience
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - Men & Women
Limassol, Cyprus, May 10, 2015. In the opening two matches of the second and final day of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup – 3rd Round Pool G, held in Limassol, Cyprus suffered consecutive defeats at the hands of Latvia and were eliminated from the women’s competition. The men’s teams from the host country suffered a similar destiny losing two matches in a row to their opponents from Finland who are now through to Round 4 coming up later this summer. Later in the afternoon, Latvia’s women will play the Finns for second place in the pool whilst the ‘Suomi’ are set to take on Israel for the same feat in the men’s competition.
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Zoi Konstantopoulou and Mariota Angelopoulou did not play to their full potential against 2009 European champion Inese Jursone and her young partner Tina Graudina losing both sets easily. The second Cypriot-Latvian encounter, however, was much more competitive and exciting for the fans. The tall Katerina Zakchaiou, just 16 years of age, playing alongside Thelma Christoforou pushed their opponents all the way, especially in the second set where they led for the majority of it. But, experience, as always, played a vital part in the crucial points, with Alise Lece and Marta Ozolina eventually winning 2-0 (21-11, 21-18).
Katerina Zakchaiou, despite the defeat, showed positive spirit at the end of the match saying: “We are not disappointed despite the negative results. Participating in such competitive matches will only help us in the future.”
Thelma Christoforou spoke mainly of how difficult Pool G was. “We couldn’t have had a much tougher group. Everybody knew from the beginning that our task was going to be difficult, competing against stronger and more experienced teams.”
The Finnish men proved too strong for their Cypriot counterparts as well, winning both ties. The match between Timo Haavisto/Toni Vahela and Dimitris Apostolou/Vladimir Knezevic was first on show in the centre court. It wasn’t easy for the Finns by any means, and this is reflected in the scores (25-23, 21-18). The Cypriot pair of Georgios Platritis and Anthimos Economides had a much tougher game against Pekka Piippo and Jyrki Nurminen, losing both sets by 21-13. The final outcome of the match was inevitable, according to Platritis. “They were much better prepared than us, as we did not have sufficient time to train together for such a competitive event”.
“I totally agree with Georgios (Platritis), and we all know how important the training aspect is at this level,” Economides added. “Nearly all our team members are of a young age, but, believe me, these defeats will not affect us psychologically, as we are still in the learning process.”
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