09/07/2017 23:00
Dutchmen come from behind to beat Ukrainian home stars at Satellite Kharkiv
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Kharkiv
Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 9, 2017. Christiaan Varenhorst and Maarten van Garderen of the Netherlands are the winners of the CEV Satellite Kharkiv, which ended on Sunday at Gorky Park in the Ukrainian city. The Dutchmen fought their way back via the losers’ bracket to win three straight matches on Sunday and the gold medal of the historic event.
Varenhorst and van Garderen first beat Slovenia’s Nejc Zemljak/Jan Pokersnik 19-21, 21-19, 16-14 in a truly dramatic match. This set the tone for what was going to follow later in the day. In the semis, Varenhorst and van Garderen beat Germany’s Lorenz Schümann and Alexander Walkenhorst, to whom they had previously lost in the second round of the competition in Kharkiv. It was a sweet revenge for Varenhorst and van Garderen, who played under a heavy shower first and under the sun in the tiebreak before celebrating a 2-1 (21-18, 20-22, 15-11) victory.
In the other semi-final, home heroes Oleksii Denin and Sergiy Popov easily routed Russia’s Ilya Leshukov and Alexander Likholetov 21-7, 21-18.
Schümann and Walkenhorst regrouped in the bronze medal match, where they beat Likholetov/Leshukov 21-16, 21-15. This is the second medal for Schümann in this year’s European Tour, after he previously finished third at the Baden Masters together with Julius Thole.
The final was the real climax of the tournament held in Kharkiv. The weather changed again, ranging from rain to sun, as Denin/Popov won the first set 21-18. The home heroes fought bravely for victory but in the second Varenhorst/van Garderen were able to break the Ukrainian team’s rhythm, extending the final to a tiebreak (24-22). It was a real drama, with the visitors from the Netherlands having a little more luck to their side as they stamped a 15-13 win to record their third 2-1 victory of the day and seize gold.
Ukraine and Czech Republic through to Youth Continental Cup Final
The Pool B tournament on schedule for the qualifying stage of the 2017-2018 CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup finished on Sunday as well, with teams from Ukraine and the Czech Republic playing each other in the finals. Kateryna Dashevska/Viktoria Lysytsia beat Lucie Sulcova and Julie Honzovicova 21-15, 22-20 to claim the top honours in the girls’ competition as Ihor Sviridov/Vladyslav Pavliuk used the home-court advantage as well to record a 21-16, 21-19 win over Jiri Sedlak/Patrik Manas. Both Ukraine and the Czech Republic progress to the finals of the competition due to take place next year where teams will fight for a spot to compete at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
To see what all happened on the final day of action in Kharkiv, watch the video below:
Click here for further information
|