05/09/2015 10:11
Lithuanian players aim at home success as Continental Cup stops in Vilnius
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
Vilnius, Lithuania, September 4, 2015. The 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, Round 4 is set to stop this weekend at Credit24 Arena (see aerial night view) in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Vilnius has already hosted previous stops in Round 1 and 3 of the Continental Cup and now hopes that the home arena and the support of the local crowd will help Lithuania’s men’s and women’s teams reach the Finals scheduled for next year. The matches in Pool A will start on Saturday, September 5 and come to a close on Sunday, September 6.
In the women‘s competition Team Lithuania will be anchored by multiple age-group World and European medallists Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte. Last week the well-known Lithuanian tandem claimed bronze at the U22 European Championship in Portugal, and they are also the bronze medallists from the Baku 2015 European Games. Pool A will also feature teams from Ukraine, Slovenia and Belgium with Ukraine being the top-ranked country.
“Our goal is to qualify to the final round of the Continental Cup. We know the Ukrainian players quite well, we have been playing against them many times in various age-group competitions and there’s always been a tough fight between us. Teams from Slovenia and Belgium are much more mysterious for us but we believe we can win this round,” Ieva Dumbauskaite says.
In the men‘s competition an exciting battle is expected between two strong teams – France and Austria. In Round 3 Austria finished second in Pool A losing to the Czech Republic, the same happened to Team France which lost to Italy and ended-up second in Pool D. Now the favourites of the competition in Vilnius are ready to use their second chance to get to the Final round of the Continental Cup.
The top-seeded country in Pool A is France, represented by Edouard Rowlandson/Youssef Krou and Jean-Baptiste Daguerre/Yannick Salvetti. The delegation from Austria includes 2014 European bronze medallist Alexander Horst, who this time teamed up with Daniel Müllner, while Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl compose Austria’s second pair. Pool A also features Finland and hosts Lithuania, who will count on the support of the local fans to help them succeed in their campaign.
The Round 4 matches will start on Saturday morning at 09:00 local time. In the men’s competition Lithuania will play against France and Austria will face Finland. In the women’s division starting at 11:00 Lithuania will meet Slovenia and Ukraine will play against Belgium.
Click here for further information on the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
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