Vulcano, Italy, September 6, 2017. European youngsters are poised to come to fame at the 2017 #EuroBeachVolleyU20 on the picturesque black sand beaches of Vulcano.
Vulcano. For millions of people around the world this name rings a bell.
The island in the Aeolic Archipelago is part of the UNESCO World Heritage and famous even outside of Europe for its impressive volcano as well as for the curative power of its terms and the breath-taking black sand beaches.
Unsurprisingly, up to 600,000 tourists flock to the breath-taking island every single year.
In the upcoming days, however, Europe’s rising stars are going to steal the show with Beach Volleyball at its finest on the picturesque black sand beaches of Vulcano.
And amongst the youngest rising stars there are some that already know how to succeed at underage events.
So for example Maria Voronina and Mariia Bocharova. The Russian youngsters claimed the gold medal at the 2017 #EuroBeachVolleyU18 on home soil in Kazan only about ten days ago.
Now Russia’s very promising youngsters can earn their spurs against more experienced players and get the opportunity to get into the exclusive circle of teams that claimed medals in two different age-group competitions in the same year if they make the podium in Vulcano too.
In the men’s competition, on the other hand, Dutch big prospects Mees Blom and Ruben Penninga want to claim their first medal at Under Age events after their strong 9th place at the FIVB U19 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Nanjing this year.
Another rising Beach Volleyball star to watch is Zoé Vergé-Dépré. The 19-year-old Swiss has got Beach Volleyball in her blood: her sister Anouk Vergé-Dépré has become the top star of Swiss Beach Volleyball at the age of 25. Younger sister Zoé is poised to follow now in her sister’s footsteps and claim her first-ever medal at the #EuroBeachVolleyU20 after finishing in 9th place last year.
But Zoé Vergé-Dépré is not the only youngster at the 2017 #EuroBeachVolleyU20 in Vulcano that is over-shaded by a Beach Volleyball superstar sibling.
In the men’s competition, 19-year-old Mihails Samoilovs wants to prove he does not have to hide himself behind 2015 #EuroBeachVolley champ and 2017 silver medallist Aleksandrs ‘The Lion King’ Samoilovs.
Samoilovs has got the chance to do better than his older brother in junior events and claim the first Under Age medal for the Samoilovs family.
The last years have shown that the #EuroBeachVolleyU20 can be a springboard for rising Beach Volleyball stars. Last year’s champs Christian Sandlie Sørum / Anders Berntsen Mol from Norway are the living proof. After the #EuroBeachVolleyU20 gold medal last year, the big hope of Norwegian Beach Volleyball did not only claim silver in the #EuroBeachVolleyU22 this year (with Mathias Berntsen replacing Sørum), but have also carved out a 5th place at the #EuroBeachVolley in Jurmala in August as well as three top 10 spots at 5* events in the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour this year.
Christian Sandlie Sørum and Anders Berntsen Mol proved with their strong results this year that the big step from the Under Age events to the top of Beach Volleyball is possible.
The question is who of the 2017 #EuroBeachVolleyU20 stars might follow their example.
The 32 men’s and women’s teams launch their quest for the crown with their first pool games on Thursday morning at 8:30. All games on the #EuroBeachVolleyU20 Centre Court will be broadcasted live on LAOLA1.TV.