01/08/2015 12:29
Italian derby provides for surprise of the day, Ranghieri/Carambula beat reigning European champions Nicolai/Lupo
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Klagenfurt, Austria, August 1, 2015. A much anticipated Italian ‘derby’ was one of the major highlights on Saturday morning as the men’s competition at the 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship resumed with the second round of the elimination phase. Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula upset their countrymen, 2014 European champions Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo (21-19, 22-20), to claim a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament being held at the world’s Beach Volleyball ‘Mecca’ where they will be playing home heroes Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst who once again drove their fans just crazy with another display of fine form in their matchup with Russia’s Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov (21-19, 21-19).
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Though Nicolai and Lupo did not have an outstanding season so far, they nevertheless entered the derby with Ranghieri/Carambula as pre-favourites for a spot in the next round. Ranghieri, who has claimed two medals this year on the World Tour – including gold at the Lucerne Open – with two different partners, was supported by a fairly large crew of fans as he was born in a neighbourhood which lies not that far away from the Austrian border. Adrian Carambula, Ranghieri’s Uruguayan-born partner with Italian roots, delighted the audience with his well-known sky serves and though he was not always successful in his attempts, the outsiders cashed the opening set by 21-19. Ranghieri/Carambula set the pace of the game also in the second set (18:13) but Nicolai/Lupo fought their way back, scoring as many as seven straight points to get an opportunity to stretch the match to the tie-break. The 2014 European champions, however, could not capitalise on this chance and ended up losing also the second set (20-22) to leave the tournament. Two years ago, as the European Championship had taken place in Klagenfurt as well, Nicolai/Lupo had already missed out on the medals settling for fourth place.
“There is no need to talk about the quality and class of Paolo and Daniele,” Ranghieri said after the match. “They have already proven it a number of times and have an impressive record of success. This time we played a very good match and even when they caught up in the second set, we stayed focussed and relaxed and were able to seize this victory. We now look forward to the next round as we will certainly get the chance to play on centre court and this is exciting in itself.”
Poland’s Beach Volleyball fans got something to celebrate as well as Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel and Bartosz Losiak/Piotr Kantor made it through to the quarterfinals with fairly easy wins over Germany’s Sebastian Fuchs/Thomas Kaczmarek and Austria’s home heroes Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl, respectively. Fijalek/Prudel are chasing their second European medal after in 2013 they won bronze in Klagenfurt for their country’s only podium finish so far in the 23-year long history of the European Championship.
The Netherlands also have two tandems in the quarterfinals after 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen edged Baku 2015 European Games bronze medallists Jan Hadrava and Premysl Kubala of the Czech Republic in another close and exciting match (17-21, 21-19, 15-7) that entertained a large crowd at the side courts set up right by the premises of the local varsity in Klagenfurt. The silver medallists from this year’s World Championships, Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst, also had to fight through to the end of their matchup with Michal Kadziola and Jakub Szalankiewicz (15-21, 21-19, 17-15) to stay alive in the competition.
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