Luxembourg, January 9, 2020. Cyprus overwhelmed Austria 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-17) in Steinbrunn, Austria, as the the 1st Round of the 2020 Men's U20 European Championship got underway Thursday.

Austria were first to reach set point at 24-23 in the first, but that was promptly cancelled by the visting side who went on to bring it home on the fourth attempt of their own.

Sotiris Siapanis was top scorer of the game with 20 points for Cyprus, who completely outblocked Austria 17 to 5 (with six stuffs from Kanaris Michael alone). Austria's top scorer was Daniel Morgunov on 13.

Austria’s head coach Roland Schwab: “We had a great start. We showed emotions and presence on the court. At 24-23 we had a chance to secure the first set, but we were not able to do so. The second set we lost in a very similar way. It is a shame, we should have been leading with 2-0. When Sebastian Sablatnig suffered an ankle injury in the third set, things became even more difficult. However, against Croatia we need three points!”

Croatia are indeed the third team in Pool A, launching their campaign at Steinbrunn on Friday against Cyprus.

Pool B, which gets underway on Friday in Prishtina, features Kosovo, Estonia and Switzerland.

The top team of each pool plus the best of the 2nd-ranked teams advance to the 2nd Round of the competition, to be held in seven pools late April / early May across Europe. The finals are in Brno, 28 August to 5 September.

The Women's U19 European Championship 1st Round comprises of one pool in Herceg Novi, with Montenegro hosting Israel, Sweden and Kosovo - also starting on Friday.

Austria vs Cyprus 0-3 (26-28, 23-25, 17-25)

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