13/08/2017 23:03
Russia and France triumph with gold at CEV-EEVZA Satellite in Yantarny
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Yantarny
Yantarny, Russia, August 13, 2017. The double-gender CEV-EEVZA Satellite in Yantarny finished on Sunday with semi-final and final matches – and teams from France and Russia standing on top of the men’s and women’s podiums, respectively. The stands of the local beach sport complex located close to the Baltic Sea were almost full and the spectators enjoyed a number of classy matches on the final day of competition in the Kaliningrad Region.
Home stars Olga Motrich and Svetlana Kholomina managed to make it to the semis via the losers’ bracket. Their rivals for a ticket to the final were Czech girls Karolina Rehackova/Magdalena Dostalova. To the delight of the Russian fans in attendance, Motrich and Kholomina crashed the rivals in two quick sets – 21-9, 21-10. In the other semi-final, tournament favourites Karla Borger/Margareta Kozuch of Germany also did not have too many troubles against Latvia’s Alise Lece/Marta Ozolina (21-19, 21-19).
Borger was hoping to win a gold medal when playing for the second time in Yantarny. Eight years ago, she had to be content with bronze when competing at the U23 European Championship held at the same venue. This time she got a step closer to the top, but reigning U22 European champion Svetlana Kholomina and her partner Olga Motrich had different plans. The Russians managed to have the upper hand at the end of a close opening set (21-19), but from the beginning of the second, the Germans took the lead. However, brilliant defence actions by Kholomina and great support from the crowd helped Svetlana and Olga level the score and cruise to a sensational 2-0 victory (21-19, 21-16). The bronze medal went to Rehackova/Dostalova following their victory over Lece/Ozolina (22-20, 21-16).
“It was a fantastic final, and it was a great event. We are always happy to play at home and for sure, every medal is fantastic as well. The start of the tournament was not very good for our team, but from match to match we managed to improve our game and down the final stretch, everything went just fine! Thanks to the organisers, thanks to my teammate and of course to the fans whose support was perfect,” Motrich said.
The second sensation was very close to turning into reality in the men’s final. It was coming from Aliaksandr Kavalenka and Aliaksandr Dziadkou of Belarus who beat early on Sunday Dutchmen Dirk Boehlé/Steven van de Velde in two straight sets in the semis. In the second semi-final, Youssef Krou and Quincy Aye from France made a great comeback in the battle against Austrians Thomas Kunert/Christoph Dressler. After losing the first set 16-21, Krou/Aye took the following two 21-13, 16-14. The gold medal match needed a tiebreak to produce the eventual winners. Krou and Aye took the first set, their opponents from Belarus managed to level the score, but in the final moments Krou/Aye had more luck on their side to produce another 16-14 victory. The bronze medals went to Boehlé/van de Velde who beat their Austrian opponents in two sets (21-14, 21-17).
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