07/09/2015 16:12
France and Austria make men’s Continental Cup Finals
2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup - Men
Vilnius, Lithuania, September 6, 2015. After edging Austria in the ‘grand finale’, France’s men claimed first place to cap two days of classy actions as Lithuania’s capital Vilnius played host to Pool A in Round 4 of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. After losing to France, Austria also managed to secure their spot in the Final Round of the Continental Cup by defeating Finland in the ‘small final’ thereby settling for second place.
France vs. Austria 2:0
The first clash of the day started with an exciting fight between France’s top duo Edouard Rowlandson/Youssef Krou (pictured) and Austria’s Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl. It was a very close match where the French were just a bit more successful in the decisive moments and this way they edged their Austrian opponents in two close sets (22-20, 21-19).
Later on Austria’s first duo Alexander Horst and Daniel Müllner did not find their best game against France’s Jean-Baptiste Daguerre and Yannick Salvetti. In what was a truly spectacular match, Daguerre delivered some real ‘miracles’ in defence and this way he also earned the sympathy of the local fans in Vilnius. Daguerre and partner Salvetti beat Horst and Müllner 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-10) earning the last point of the match with a lucky service ace to secure France’s first place in the final standing of the Pool after just two matches.
Austria vs. Finland 2:1
After losing to France, Austria was still in the competition and vying for the second spot at stake to progress to the Final Round of the Continental Cup. In a much anticipated clash for second and third place Austria played Finland, and this was a remake of their clash from Saturday in the semis. Austria eventually had the upper hand by two wins to one, this way securing their promotion to the Finals.
Alexander Horst and Daniel Müllner managed to achieve their first victory together since the start of a busy weekend. This time the first Austrian pair didn‘t face any problems while playing Jyrki Nurminen/Harri Suonikko and easily pocketed their victory in two sets (21-17, 21-18).
However, Finland managed to come back after Timo Haavisto and Toni Vahela scored a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) win over Alexander Huber and Robin Seidl.
In the ‘golden match’ that followed Austria took the opportunity to mix their teams again pairing Alexander Horst with Robin Seidl. This was the time for Alexander Horst and Robin Seidl to shine and to impress the audience with a top-class performance. Huge blocks by Robin Seidl and amazing defence by Alexander Horst paved the way for a massive 21-11 score in the first set of their matchup with Timo Haavisto and Toni Vahela. However, the Finnish team was not ready to give up and came back causing a lot of problems to Horst and Seidl in the second set. The game got really close but the Austrians were just too strong and too determined to win and finally they were the ones to celebrate (21-11, 22-20).
Austria’s Beach Volleyball star Alexander Horst commented: “After our performance earlier this morning and also yesterday we are happy to win the second place at least. It was really difficult as we usually do not play together. The Finnish team played really well especially their first duo, and they pressured us with their service like hell. During the ‘golden match’ we finally played a good game and we did so especially in the first set. We knew it was going to be hard, but now everything is fine and we are happy to move on to the Final Round.”
Click here for further information on the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
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