27/08/2015 23:06
Tandems from Norway and Poland off to perfect start at men’s U22 European Champs, dramatic win for home heroes
2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal, August 27, 2015. Russia’s Artem Yarzutkin and Oleg Stoyanovskiy, the gold medallists from last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, quite surprisingly lost their first match in pool play on the opening day of the men’s competition at the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal. Their nemesis is Germany’s tandem Yannick Harms/Mirko Schneider who cruised to a 21-10, 20-22, 15-9 victory to upset their pre-favourite opponents.
As for last year’s U22 European champions, Norway’s Christian Sandlie Sørum and Runar Torsvik Sannarnes, they look determined to defend the title they won in Fethiye, Turkey back in September 2014 and on Thursday recorded two consecutive victories without dropping a set in their matches with Poland’s Maciej Kaszewiak/Mateusz Paszkowski (21-12, 21-16) and Finland’s Veli Manninen/Marko Määttänen (21-15, 21-16).
Another serious contender for the medals is Poland’s second duo Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak. The gold medallists from last year’s U21 World Championship in Larnaka also started their quest for yet another accolade in a perfect way edging first Austria’s Lukas Peter Stranger/Benedikt Kattner (21-14, 21-10) and after that also Dutchmen Jannes van der Ham/Ruben Penninga (21-18, 21-19).
Michal Bryl said at the end of a positive first competition day in Macedo de Cavaleiros: “This is only the group stage but we want to finish first in the pool so we can’t afford to play bad. We usually have good results in this kind of tournaments, and our objective is to win a medal, gold if possible, but every match will be difficult, and as far as the competition goes, the Russians and both teams from Germany will be tough opponents. We already know them from other tournaments, and therefore we are aware of their quality. This is the last age-group category where we get to compete so we want to be the best.” Regarding the conditions at the venue of the championship, Bryl said: “The location is very nice, the courts are good and the food is great. We only have to worry about the wind that sometimes makes its appearance.”
Germany’s Niklas Rudolf and Clemens Wickler, last year’s U20 European champions, have also set their sight on the ‘throne’ in this age group as well. They started their campaign in the best way stamping a 21-19, 21-14 win in their opening match with Russia’s Igor Velichko/Maxim Sivolap.
France’s Romain Di Giantommaso and Maxime Thiercy – who last year claimed bronze at the U21 World Championship in Larnaka – also had an excellent opening day of their campaign on Portuguese sand. They first downed Belgium’s Martijn Verspecht/Kwinten Luyckx 21-12, 21-11 and after that they stamped a 21-17, 21-17 win over home heroes Francisco Pombeiro/Jose Jardim, so the Frenchmen are also among those to watch out for in the race for the medals.
Diogo Maia (pictured) and Tomás Silva carry Portugal’s hopes in the competition as they were the only team from the host country to record a victory on Thursday. They did so at the end of a close and dramatic match with England’s Robert Poole/Issa Batrane (21-23, 22-20, 15-13) which lasted for 59 minutes and drew a lot of support from the fans in attendance.
The actions will continue Friday with the last pool play matches whilst the women will embark on the elimination phase and the eventual losers will have to pack their bags and travel back home.
All matches of the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship are streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
You can follow the competition also on social media with the official hashtag #EuroBeachVolleyU22
Click here for more info including entry lists, results, pictures and much more
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