11/04/2019 10:46
Russian teams the ones to beat at final stop of European Tour in St. Anton
CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019
Luxembourg, April 11, 2019. After the historic World Tour events held in Wagrain-Kleinarl and Plan de Corones / Kronplatz, the CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019 will have one final stop later this week in the Austrian Alps and more specifically in St. Anton am Arlberg. Even though the Austrian resort will be hosting the first such CEV event, St. Anton has been on the Snow Volleyball map for quite a while – hosting ‘unofficial’ tournaments in the early days of this sport.
The competition features 13 men’s and 10 women’s teams and a number of high-profile players have registered for participation in the season ‘finale’, including reigning European champion Ruslan Daianov of Russia, who will be competing alongside Vsevolod Bobrikov, Vladislav Mikhalev and Vadim Smorchkov. Russia have been the dominant force in this year’s European Tour and Daianov will be trying to secure his second gold medal after topping the charts in Erciyes, Turkey, back in January even though with a different set of partners.
The second Russian team featuring Pavel Rakusov, Yury Bogatov and Nikita Kuzmin will be a contender for the top honours as well after finishing second in Plan de Corones last week, losing only after a dramatic battle to USA in the gold medal match. Three players that won bronze on Sunday in the Italian Alps – Piotr Groszek, Karol Szczepanik and Kamil Warzocha – will be trying to secure yet another accolade for Poland, even though former ‘King of the Snow’ Michal Matyja is not a member of their team for the St. Anton event.
Teams from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey compose the entry lists – with the competition due to unfold according to the double elimination system.
Olga Motrich (second from left) and two of her teammates from the World Tour event in Plan de Corones / Kronplatz are due to compete at the season finale in St. Anton as well.
Russia will be the team to beat in the women’s competition as well. Olga Motrich has claimed back-to-back gold medals from the World Tour and she teams up with Romashova, Kozhadey and Lapteva in an effort to secure yet another gold medal. There have been slight changes in the team’s composition from event to event but these have not affected the result at all.
Two former ‘Queens of the Snow’, Anna Dostalova and Michaela Knoblochova of Czech Republic, will compete in St. Anton as well – even though not on the same team. Moreover, there is quite a lot of curiosity surrounding Team Norway, whose roster includes former Beach Volleyball stars Ingrid Toerlen and Nila Håkedal together with Janne Kongshavn and Kristine Wiig, who represented the Scandinavian country at last year’s European Championships.
Teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Turkey are due to compete in St. Anton.
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