06/02/2019 11:00
Russia likely to roar again at Snow Volleyball European Tour stop in Bakuriani
CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019 - Bakuriani
Luxembourg, February 6, 2019. Teams from nine countries will compete at the third stop of the CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019 due to take place from February 15-17 in Georgia’s most popular ski resort, Bakuriani. It is the second straight year that such an event takes place in this area after last season’s successful premiere. The fans can look forward to an exciting competition, featuring some of the best Snow Volleyball teams in Europe.
Russia’s Vitaly Shabalin, Nikolai Polikarpov, Viktor Markov and Adel Kayumov will be trying to claim their first European Tour gold after finishing as the runners-up at the previous stops held in Moscow and Erciyes. The four players from Kazan have been extremely consistent this season so far and they may expect a run for their money from another Russian team that finished third in Moscow and Erciyes, i.e. the quartet consisting of Pavel Rakusov, Petr Bakhnar, Yury Bogatov and Nikita Kuzmin. Russia will have three teams in the men’s competition and will be hoping for a clean sweep of the podium – just as they did in Erciyes back in January and in Moscow in December.
Former ‘King of the Snow’ Michal Matyja from Poland returns to play on the European stage doing so alongside Karol Szczepanik, Piotr Groszek and Michal Korycki. Georgia and Turkey will field three teams apiece, Italy will have two and an Iranian team will make their debut on the European circuit.
Last year, Russian teams claimed all of the men’s medals in Bakuriani but none of those players is returning to Georgia for the 2019 edition of the event.
Russia are very likely to dominate the women’s competition as well, with three teams due to compete in Georgia, including the gold medal winners from the last stop in Erciyes – Olga Motrich, Ksenia Khakimzyanova, Evgeniya Volodarskaya and Ekaterina Syrtseva. There could be a repeat of the Erciyes gold medal match where these four beat their compatriots Uliana Lapteva, Elizaveta Novikova, Elizaveta Terenteva and Anastasia Pavlova (pictured above).
The women’s competition will feature teams from Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia and Turkey.
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