25/08/2015 17:55
Last year’s U22 European champions hope for more glory
2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal, August 25, 2015. Norway’s Christian Sandlie Sørum and Runar Torsvik Sannarnes are the reigning U22 Beach Volleyball European champions as last year they topped the podium of the competition held in Fethiye, Turkey, similarly to what Poland’s Jagoda Gruszczynska/Karolina Baran did in the women’s competition. These two duos have now travelled to Portugal and more specifically to Macedo de Cavaleiros where the 2015 edition of the competition for this age group will start on Wednesday, hoping to retain their crown.
“We are expecting to perform well and we will give everything in every match, as we know that there are many good teams which are set to enter this tournament”, says Christian Sandlie Sørum. “This event is the main competition for us this year, so we are highly motivated.” The young Christian seems to have a good connection with Portugal since back in 2013 he claimed a silver medal at the FIVB U19 World Championship held in Porto together with former partner Bjarne Nikolai Huus.
His teammate Rune Torsvik Sannarnes sounds confident as well. “It will be difficult to win gold again, since we are aware that many good teams are entering this competition, but we will do everything to achieve good results,” said the Norwegian player who went on to add: “There are many elite Beach Volleyball players from around the world who have had an influence on me.” As for partner Christian Sandlie Sørum, he seems to have a couple of well-defined role models: “My favourite players are the legendary Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos.”
Also motivated by last year’s victory, the Polish duo Gruszczynska and Baran are hoping to have a shot at another gold medal. Last year in Fethiye they edged their countrywomen Katarzyna Kociolek and Dorota Strag, who had to settle for silver after an all-Polish final.
“We want to do our best to be the best again. We have been working very hard to prepare for this competition and to win the gold medal once more, at least this is what we hope for. We think that our main competitors are once again our friends and countrywomen Katarzyna and Dorota, so it would be beautiful to play the final against them again,” Jagoda and Karolina say. “It’s our first look at the venue, we think that it is really nice and we hope to go back home with nice memories of it,” they conclude.
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