08/06/2019 22:00
Serbia secure Continental Cup second round spots on home turf
2018-2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup
Novi Sad, Serbia, June 8, 2019. Serbia secured first place with both their men’s and women’s national teams at the 2018-2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup event held at Štrand beach in the city of Novi Sad. This is the first stage of the competition qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that will continue with the second round in May 2020 before the Finals take place in the Netherlands in June. The eventual winners will qualify one spot for their country to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
In the women’s event, Serbia needed a ‘Golden Match’ to edge Sweden and secure their spot in the second round of the Continental Cup. Camilla Nilsson/Sofia Ögren beat Natasa Savović/Nina Škarić in the first match 2-0 (21-18, 21-18), before Tamara Miljević/Milena Matić edged twin sisters Kristina and Susanna Thurin 2-1 (21-12, 14-21, 15-12) to level the match. Serbia reshuffled their cards for the ‘Golden Match’ where the unusual pair Savović/Matić beat Nilsson/Ögren 2-0 (21-19, 21-6).
Sweden will play on Sunday against the winners of the clash between Israel and Albania. The runners-up of the competition will progress to the second round as well.
In the men’s competition, hosts Serbia beat Belarus 2-0 to claim first place in Pool A. Stefan Basta/Vukasin Rajković (pictured above) were absolutely dominant in their matchup with Andrei Mitrafanau/Ilya Abramenka (2-0; 21-17, 21-13), whereas Djordje Klašnić/Milos Milić had to work hard to edge Aliaksandr Dziadkou and Pavel Piatrushka 2-1 (21-17, 13-21, 18-16).
San Marino play Romania on Sunday morning to determine the country that will challenge Belarus for second place in the group.
The top two teams from each of the eight first-round pools progress to the second round.
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