06/09/2015 11:35
Ukraine keeps hope alive, England says goodbye
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
Thessaloniki, Greece, September 6, 2015. Ukraine got a much-needed victory over England and will keep on fighting for the Olympic qualification, while their opponents bid farewell after their second straight loss in the men’s Round 4 of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, which is being held in Thessaloniki.
The matchup between the losers of Saturday morning semi-finals had enough suspense and two tie-breaks, although the Ukrainians eventually made it 2-0 wins and avoided the ‘golden match’.
Oleksii Denin/Denys Denysenko beat Jake Sheaf/Chris Gregory 2-1 (21-12, 16-21, 15-9) and after that Iaroslav Gordieiev/Vladyslav Iemelianchyk edged Gregg Weaver/Philip Smith also 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 15-13). However, the losers' great effort was applauded by the fans which attended the games at Avant Garde Sports Club.
Thanks to this result, the winners will have the opportunity to fight for the second place in Pool C at 15:00 local time, against Switzerland, to which they had lost on Saturday’s semi-finals. On the other hand, England finished fourth and this way bids farewell to the Continental Cup.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Iemelianchyk said: “It was a hard match for us, against a great team. Now we must beat Switzerland and I think we can make it. We will try to play better than in Saturday’s semi-finals and I hope that the result will be different this time.”
England’s Gregg Weaver commented: “We are disappointed with the result. We came here to qualify and this hasn’t been accomplished. We played very stable, but didn’t quite get enough points at a pivotal time.”
Click here for further information on the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
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