04/09/2016 10:47
Samoilovs and Smedins to take on Russian sensation in quest for home gold
2016 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Jurmala Masters
Jurmala, Latvia, September 4, 2016. Latvia’s Head of State Raimonds Vējonis confirmed already a few days ago his intention to attend the final act of the 2016 CEV Jurmala Masters and his visit to the imposing venue set up by the Baltic Sea will coincide with a gold medal match starring home stars Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins. Russia’s Yaroslav Koshkarev and Ruslan Bykanov will be trying to spoil the Latvian party after edging another home team, Martins Plavins and Haralds Regza, in the second semi-final contested on Sunday morning. The eventual winners of the tournament will secure a quota spot for their country to compete at next year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Vienna.
After dealing with challenging weather conditions on Saturday, the organisers could not ask for anything better than a sunny, dry Sunday morning to set the tone for the ‘grand finale’ of the Jurmala Masters. Home favourites Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins were the first of two home teams to take centre stage by the Baltic Sea – and definitely were the hottest candidates – out of the two teams starring in the first semi – to secure a spot in the gold medal match. The 2015 European champions set the tempo of the game right from the first rallies and even though their Belgian opponents, Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle attempted a late comeback after taking a time-out, they still could not stop the triumphal march of the home stars. Janis Smedins closed the opening set with a crosscourt hit (21-17) to the delight of a raucous crowd including many young kids who have found in the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist and in the ‘Lion King’ their undisputed sports heroes.
Koekelkoren and van Walle had already improved on the ninth placed they claimed at last year’s Jurmala Masters but this had come at such an early stage of their still young Beach Volleyball career that they were definitely hungry for more and not likely to give in without putting up a fight. The fact that the eventual winners of the tournament secure a quota spot for their country to compete at the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships was a further incentive for a tandem that has almost no competition back home, but Samoilovs and Smedins were simply on fire, alternating powerful shots and more tactical moves to pave their way to the gold medal match by sealing a 2-0 win (21-17, 21-14).
“Back from the Grand Slam in Long Beach, we spent some time with these guys and they were our sparring partners here in Jurmala, so we knew this team very well and it was quite easy for us to execute the game plan we had prepared and to stick to our tactics,” Samoilovs explained. “Luckily we are no more as jet lagged as we were upon our return from the States, and yet Janis is planning to take a nap before the final. As for me, I am willing to spend some extra time with our amazing fans here in Jurmala.”
Koshkarev/Bykanov spoil Latvian party in second semi-final
Next up were the gold medal winners from the Baku 2015 European Games, Martins Plavins and Haralds Regza, taking on Russia’s Yaroslav Koshkarev and Ruslan Bykanov, the only team not to have dropped a set on the way to the semis. Actually this semi-final featured as many as three out of four players who contested the gold medal match of the European Games in 2015, since Koshkarev settled for silver in Azerbaijan’s capital along with Dmitry Barsouk. Koshkarev and Bykanov were hoping to extend their winning streak on Majori beach since exactly a week ago they had won an EEVZA zonal event at the same venue.
It has been 25 years since Latvia’s independence from the Soviet Union but any match starring Latvian and Russian teams is always kind of ‘special’. The local crowd passionately supported Plavins and Regza but their Russian rivals were in control almost from start to end to comfortably win the opening set 21-16. Koshkarev and Bykanov trailed 15-19 in the second set but Plavins/Regza failed to capitalise on as many as six set balls before Koshkarev’s service winner finished it all off at 26-24 for the Russians. As a result, Koshkarev and Bykanov progressed to the final act of the tournament without dropping a set in five matches and seem comfortable also with overtime stress – on Friday they won a dramatic 36-34 second set in their quarter-final match with Austria’s Thomas Kunert and Christoph Dressler.
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