12/05/2019 17:45
Slovenia through to second stage of CEV Continental Cup
2018-2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
Portorož, Slovenia, May 12, 2019. Despite the rainy conditions, the second competition day of the 2018-2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup brought a lot of joy to hosts Slovenia, since both their men’s and women’s teams eventually made it to the next phase of this Olympic qualifying event. Together with Slovenia, Czech Republic and Latvia – the eventual winners of Pool E – have secured their spot in the next round of the men’s and women’s competition, respectively.
The morning rain did not seem to bother the locals Tjaša Jančar and Tjaša Kotnik who opened the second competition day in Portorož with straight 2-0 (21-13, 21-8) win over Bulgaria’s Stefani Kyoseva and Eva Petrova. Ana Skarlovnik and Jelena Pešić (pictured) claimed the second Slovenian 2-0 (21-14, 21-13) win defeating Irena Mishonova and Nikol Duleva, thus securing Slovenia a spot in the next round of the CEV Continental Cup.
Home heroes Nejc Zemljak and Jan Pokeršnik struggled a bit with difficult weather conditions due to rain and cold but still managed to defeat Israel’s Sean Faiga and Keinan Kopech 2-1 (21-15, 15-21, 15-11). “We had more troubles with our own mistakes and bad moves than with the opponents, especially in the second set. That was the main reason we had to play a third set where we improved our performance and successfully finished the match in our favour,” Pokeršnik commented.
Jure Peter Bedrač in action during the matchup with Israel.
In the second match featuring teams from these same countries, Jure Peter Bedrač and Vid Jakopin outplayed Ofri Masuri and Eylon Elazar 2-0 (21-18, 21-14). Jakopin was happy with their performance: “The playing conditions were quite challenging but we adjusted relatively fast. The Israeli team were good opponents, but I think that we did our job in attack and with solid blocking, what was decisive. We are happy to proceed to the next round of the Continental Cup.”
The competition ended with the women’s final featuring Slovenia and Latvia. In the first match, Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina emerged victorious against the home team Skarlovnik/Pešić winning 2-0 (21-12, 21-16). Pešić was not too disappointed after the match: “We are happy that we were close in the beginning of the sets, since Kravcenoka/Graudina are very experienced players.”
Teams from Latvia and Slovenia celebrate their qualification for the second stage of the CEV Continental Cup.
The other Slovenian team Jančar/Kotnik was not lucky either. Alise Lece and Marta Ozolina prepared well for their match and claimed a 2-0 (22-20, 21-13) win. “We thought it would be harder overall but it was still far from an easy win. When Kotnik attacked from the second line, it was difficult for us to pick it up. The match was interesting; the first set was quite tough and in the second one we just knew what to do and we did it,” Ozolina shared her thoughts.
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