23/12/2019 21:00
Beach Volleyball sweeps three prizes at end-of-year awards in Latvia
News from the National Federations
Riga, Latvia, December 23, 2019. Beach Volleyball players and a Beach Volleyball coach claimed three out of 11 end-of-year sports awards at stake in Latvia, thus further cementing the popularity of the sport in the Baltic country.
Genadijs Samoilovs received the ‘Coach of the Year’ award for the role he played towards the unprecedented success achieved by Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka. The Latvians sensationally claimed EuroBeachVolley gold in Moscow, Russia before securing their participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – a feat achieved by Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs at the very same Olympic qualifying event held in China.
It is a terrific achievement for Latvia – as the Baltic country has secured two spots at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with still six months to go before completion of the qualifying process. After receiving the award, Samoilovs said that he feels lucky to live in such a beautiful city as Jurmala and to work with such amazing athletes.
Tīna Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka received the prize for the ‘Best Team in Individual Sports’. This year, they crowned a sensational season with the ‘Queens of the Beach’ award at the CEV European Volleyball Gala 2019 in Sofia and with the distinction for the ‘Most Improved Team’ on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. “It feels great to receive such a recognition for all of our hard work,” Graudina said.
The captain of the Latvian national basketball team Janis Blums presented Martins Plavins with a special award for ‘Fighting Spirit’ to celebrate a successful season despite his injury problems. Plavins touched his many fans, competitors and media at the 4-Star event held in Espinho (POR) when, despite a serious ankle injury, he played the ‘small final’ and eventually secured the bronze medals. “It is an honour to receive such an award and I would like to thank my wife for her support,” Plavins said.
Picture: The Beach Volleyball awardees together with the President of Latvia, Mr Egils Levits
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