18/11/2016 11:57
Kazan, Vulcano & Baden to host age-group Beach Volleyball European Champs
2017 CEV U18 / U20 / U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships
Luxembourg, November 18, 2016. Everything is set for the 2017 edition of the CEV U18, U20 and U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships where Europe’s Beach Volleyball ‘stars in the making’ will have the opportunity to display their skills and make another step forward in their still young, yet promising careers in the sport. The much anticipated age-group events will be taking place in Kazan, Russia (U18), Vulcano, Italy (U20) and Baden, Austria (U22, pictured above) with the support of the respective National Federations and local authorities.
The U18 European Championship will be taking place in Russia – and more specifically from August 24 to 27 – for the first time since this competition was introduced back in 2002. Though the capital city of Tatarstan is mostly known as a Volleyball ‘Mecca’ thanks to the likes of Zenit and Dinamo, Kazan played host to the 2013 Summer Universiade whose programme included a high-profile Beach Volleyball competition.
The same city did also play host to a CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup tournament back in 2011. Russia’s Beach Volleyball stars in the making will be trying to use the home-court advantage to further cement their role as a major force to be reckoned with in this age-group after Sergei Gorbenko/Vasilii Ivanov and Olga Kozhadey/Elena Fediunova settled for the silver medal earlier this summer in Brno.
As for the U20 competition, this will be taking place in Italy for the fourth time after San Salvo, Catania and Cesenatico played host to the 2008, 2010 and 2014 editions, respectively. Vulcano, a small island about 25 km north of Sicily, successfully played host in the summer of 2016 to a first international event open to players from the so-called 8 Nations Group. The venue will be a truly iconic one and the young participants can look forward to the experience of a lifetime when they travel to Vulcano where the 2017 edition of #EuroBeachVolleyU20 will be held from September 7 to 10.
The 2017 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship will take place in Baden, one of Europe’s real Beach Volleyball ‘Meccas’, on June 22-25. The venue at Strandbad is one Europe’s Beach Volleyball family is very familiar with since it has hosted a number of international events including CEV Masters and Satellite tournaments, a stop of the 2014-2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup and many national competitions as well. Austria previously hosted that same championship in 2006 (in Sankt Pölten) when the age limit was still set at U23. Back then, Felix Bläuel and Rio 2016 Olympian Alexander ‘Xandi’ Huber used the home-court advantage to claim Austria’s only gold medal to date in this age group.
The 2017 #EuroBeachVolleyU22 will follow the organisation of a CEV double-gender Masters which is also set to take place at the same venue in Baden.
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