Plan de Corones / Kronplatz, Italy, March 16, 2018. The sixth and final stop of the 2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour ended with a thrilling days play in the Italian resort of Plan de Corones / Kronplatz.  With the weather starting to turn, the conditions were much more enjoyable for the players and spectators as the sun forced its way through the clouds. 

There was lots at stake as the results and final standings would lead to the confirmation of the 2018 Kings and Queens of the snow, the final team to be qualified to the inaugural European Championship in five days as well as the podiums teams for the weekend, which were:

MEN
Gold – Golovin/Durnin (RUS)
Silver – Bogatov/Rakusov (RUS)
Bronze – Vasiljev/Malinauskas (LTU)

WOMEN
Gold – Knoblochova/Dostalova (CZE)
Silver – Klopf/Mair (AUT)
Bronze – Greber/Huber (SUI)

As the women´s finals were contested by the Czech and Austrian National Champions, both who were already qualified for the #EuroSnowVolley as consequence, and the men´s final slots were occupied by two Russian teams, a country who had already reached their maximum country quota, the last tour stop of the European Tour was not to reveal the last qualified teams for the 2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Championship.  This would come from the ranking where the highest placed team who registered would go, which we now know to be Enrico Lupatelli/Michele Maines (ITA) for men and Elena-Andreea Petrosanu/Ioana-Rebeca Alexandru (ROU) for women.

After the completion of the tour we also now know the Kings and Queens of the Snow in 2018, with these accolades going to Myskiv / Daianov (RUS) for men and Eryildiz / Vence (TUR) for women, all first time recipients.

Back to this weekends action, Ivan Golovin / Valeriy Durnin won gold beating their country rivals Yury Bogatov / Pavel Rakusov in straight sets (11-7, 11-9) for the third time already. Ivan Golovin stated: “We feel really tired and cold, but we are very happy with the win. Against this team, we had already won two out of three matches so we felt confident we could win for the third time.”

Lithuanian pair Artur Vasiljev / Marius Malinauskas took the bronze medal beating Dennis Kliche / Danny Richter-Darge of Germany 2-0 (11-5, 11-9) in 15 minutes. Reflecting after the match Marius Malinauskas admitted “It is actually a shame that we didn’t win the semi-finals, as we came to qualify for the European Championship, but overall it was a good experience and we had a lot of fun.”

Tomislav Šmuc and Jernej Potočnik might be the most experienced volleyball players of this tournament. Both were members of Slovenian indoor national team and Jernej is also a multiple Slovenian beach volleyball champion. Known by their nickname Tom & Jerry, they lost their chance to qualify for #EuroSnowVolley after losing the fight for the semi-finals against Yury Bogatov / Pavel Rakusov. Jernej Potočnik after their loss said: “First we were disappointed but looking at it from the realistic side, the Russians are a very skilled team, they won 2-0 and were better today. Overall we are happy with our performance and hope to be here next year.”

The 2017 ´Queens of the Snow´ Anna Dostalova and Michaela Knoblochova from the Czech Republic confirmed themselves as the gold medallists of the ultimate European Tour Stop in 2018. After three 4th place finishes in the European Tour so far this season, they finally succeeded to win their semi-final match to finish with a strong victory over Austria´s Elisabeth Klopf / Viktoria Mair 2-0 (11-4, 11-5). Service pressure was key to their success with Anna Dostalova reflecting after their victory: “We are happy to finally win and we feel ready for next weekend.”

The women’s bronze medal match was a tight affair between Tatjana Greber / Kim Huber of Switzerland and Eszter Lutter / Panna Györi of Hungary.  After a close game, the Swiss pair emerged victorious 2-0 (11-8, 11-9) with Kim Huber stating after their win: “We feel great, we didn’t expect to finish third, although it was a pity that we lost the semis. It was a tough game and we had the momentum on our side, then we started making mistakes but it was great to have a big fight before the bronze medal match.”

The final tour stop ended with the two womens finallist teams coming together for a song...

Click here for more information on the 2018 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour.