24/03/2018 20:21
Lithuanian men continue unbeaten run into #EuroSnowVolley semi-finals
2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship
Wagrain-Kleinarl, Austria, March 24, 2018. Russia vs. Lithuania and Russia vs. Germany are the two men’s semi-finals of the 2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship. Lithuanian national champions Lukas Kazdailis and Arnas Rumsevicius are the lowest-ranked team that made the final four and they did so in emphatic style with four wins in as many matches dropping only one set along the way.
Having won their pool on Friday, Kazdailis/Rumsevicius added two more victories to their successful run on Saturday. In the Round of 16, they upset the strong Swiss pair of Sébastien Chevallier/Alexei Strasser with a hard-fought 2-1 (11-8, 15-17, 11-6) win. The Lithuanians went on to persevere through another tough battle in the quarterfinals to emerge victorious in a 2-0 (13-11, 15-13) shutout of Slovenia’s Tadej Bozenk/Anze Bahc and become the first ever semi-finalist in a men’s #EuroSnowVolley championship.
“We are feeling great! It’s amazing!” Kazdailis exclaimed. “This is a very nice place and it is fun to play here.” Asked whether they expected to go this far in the tournament, he replied positively with confidence and said, “We will try to go to the final and win the first place, of course.” “… and play better than today,” Rumsevicius added. “Today we made a lot of mistakes.”
To accomplish their task, the 21st-seeded Lithuanians have a huge obstacle to overcome. In their semi-final match, they will go face to face against the new ‘Kings of the Snow’, top-seeded Ruslan Daianov and Taras Myskiv. The Russians had two tough encounters on Saturday, but managed to go through both of them in straight sets. In the first knockout round, they disposed of Switzerland’s Raphael Zurgilgen/Remo Spahr with a 2-0 (11-8, 11-8) win. After that, they had to face their Pool A opponents Florian Schnetzer/Daniel Müllner again. With great support from the numerous fans on the stands, the Austrians put up a fight, but the Kings were just too strong for them – 2-0 (12-10, 11-5).
Another Russian duo, fourth-seeded Yury Bogatov/Pavel Rakusov, started their day with a 2-0 (11-8, 12-10) victory over Austria’s Benedikt Kattner/Mathias Seiser to claim the second place in Pool D and qualify for the single elimination rounds. In the Round of 16, Bogatov/Rakusov knocked out third-seeded Poles Michal Matyja/Piotr Janiak in a 2-0 (11-7, 11-9) straight-setter, to face another home team, sixth-seeded Alexander Huber and Martin Streitfellner, in the quarterfinals. Despite the strong cheer the Austrians received from the crowd on the stands, the Russians dominated on the way to a 2-0 (11-8, 11-6) win to secure a spot in the semis.
The third Russian pair, second-seeded Ruslan Bykanov and Maksim Hudyakov, were also a step away from the semi-finals, but were stopped by Paul Becker and Jonas Schröder. The ninth-seeded German national champions mastered a 2-0 (11-8, 11-9) quarterfinal victory over the Russians to set up a semi-final encounter with Bogatov/Rakusov on Sunday. Similar to their next opponents, Becker and Schröder had some pool business to finish up on Saturday morning. They managed a 2-0 (11-7, 11-3) shutout of Romania’s Bogdan Necula and Tudorel Farcas to finish second in Pool H and advance to the next round, where they claimed a 2-0 (11-7, 11-7) win against Greece’s Georgios Kotsilianos/Panagiotis Ioannidis.
The two men’s semi-finals are scheduled for 10:00 CET on courts 1 and 3. The bronze medal match at 11:20 CET and the big final at 13:00 CET are set for the fabulous centre court at the purpose-built Snow Space Salzburg Arena and will receive worldwide television coverage.
Click here for further information or visit www.snowvolleyball.com
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