03/09/2016 08:18
Talented Joy Stubbe reveals two ultimate dreams
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Jurmala Masters
Jurmala, Latvia, September 3, 2016. A number of young, up-and-coming players are competing this week at the CEV Jurmala Masters on Majori beach. This group includes inter alia Joy Stubbe, a two-time U20 European champion from the Netherlands. Stubbe lost her first elimination round match on Saturday morning to Russia’s Olga Motrich and Daria Rudykh but she did not lose her smile and determination to pursue a career in her favourite game.
Stubbe and former partner Nika Daalderop claimed back-to-back U20 European titles in 2015 and 2016 but the two have split since Daalderop is now willing to play indoors at least for one year. She has already moved to Aachen, Germany where she will be playing in the first division of the Bundesliga under the guidance and mentorship of a Dutch coach. As a result, Stubbe has been playing three tournaments along with Jolien Sinnema – her partner also in Jurmala.
“I have joined the senior national programme of the Dutch Volleyball Federation, but I still do not know how my future looks like,” Joy said. “It all depends on what the coaches decide to do with the other elite players and members of the programme. We do not know what is going to happen to Jantine van der Vlist and Sophie van Gestel who played at the Olympics earlier this summer. We also do not know yet if Marleen [van Iersel] and Madelein [Meppelink] will continue together. Of course the ideal option for me would be to play with Meppelink, but we will wait and see what the coaches decide.”
One thing is for sure: Stubbe is going to focus full-time on Beach Volleyball and this is where her future is going to be. “Two years ago I also played indoors, mostly for fun and to get some matches during the winter season, but my knees are a little weak, so I can’t jump too much. As a result, this year I focussed only on Beach Volleyball and I think this choice is paying dividends.” And it really does, since Stubbe and Daalderop were crowned U20 European champions for the second year in a row, a feat previously achieved only by Nina Betschart and Nicole Eiholzer of Switzerland.
Joy is hoping that after joining the senior programme, one day she will be able to crown her Olympic dream: “I am only 19, but who knows, maybe in four years I will play at the Tokyo Olympics! That is definitely my ultimate dream. On the other hand, I know it takes some time to develop and to be fully competitive at the senior level. This season I played a number of events also on the World Tour and there I could see that I still have a long way to go to be able to compete with the best ones out there.”
However, playing on the World Tour has also been a source of inspiration for the young Joy: “I did not have any real idol before, but after seeing Larissa in Gstaad, I was kind of amazed by how good she is and she has become the role model I look up to. One day I hope I will also play as good as she does and be able to achieve the same kind of results,” Stubbe admits.
On the way to Tokyo 2020, Stubbe also hopes to be able to compete at the European Championship Final that the Netherlands will be hosting in 2018. “That would be really cool, a European Championship at home. We’ll see if I can make it there, I will definitely work hard to achieve this goal,” she says.
Apart from playing at the Olympics, Joy has another – not so secret – dream she would like to fulfil one day: “My younger sister Puk is now on the youth programme of the Dutch Volleyball Federation. She has just started and is only 16, so she really is still at the very beginning of her journey. It all depends if she will grow taller than me and she will continue with the sport, but one of my ultimate dreams would be to be able to play together one day.” Time will tell it this will eventually happen…
Seed-breakthroughs
Two teams caused seed-breakthroughs on Saturday morning as the competition at the Jurmala Masters resumed on Majori beach. Home stars and U22 European champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka came from behind to beat Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha and Yulia Abalakina (18-21, 21-19, 15-8) and get the right to challenge Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Julia Grossner in the quarter-finals.
Germany’s Katharina Culav and Sandra Seyfferth beat Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova of the Czech Republic 18-21, 21-17, 16-14 and will play their countrywomen Teresa Mersmann/Isabel Schneider in the next round. The last tandem to progress to the quarter-finals were Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova/Ievgeniia Shchypkova who comfortably routed Latvian national champions Alise Lece and Marta Ozolina 21-18, 21-11 and will take on top-seeded Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude in the quarter-finals.
Also on Saturday early morning, in the first round of men’s elimination Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler claimed the Austrian derby with Daniel Müllner/Lorenz Petutschnig 21-17, 21-14. After a rocky pool stage, Russia’s rising stars Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin finally delivered a solid performance to comfortably beat Israel’s Sean Faiga/Ariel Hilman 21-17, 21-14. Sergiy Popov and Oleksii Denin of Ukraine also progressed to the quarter-finals following their 21-17, 21-15 shutout of home heroes Rihards Finsters and Edgars Tocs. There was another setback for Latvia as Toms Smedins and Aleksandrs Solovejs lost to France’s newly-formed team Youssef Krou/Maxime Thiercy in three sets (16-21, 27-25, 12-15) at the end of a dramatic marathon match.
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