02/04/2016 00:40
High-altitude battles in Kronplatz to mark the end of inaugural Snow Volleyball European Tour
2016 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour
Kronplatz / Plan de Corones, Italy, April 1, 2016. The ski area of Kronplatz / Plan de Corones in the beautiful Italian Alps is all set to welcome the participants in the last stop of the inaugural CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour. A total of 45 pairs from six different countries have registered for the men’s and the women’s tournaments scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday on the snow courts in northern Italy at about 2,275 metres above sea level. This is most probably the highest altitude at which a CEV competition has ever taken place in history.
The Italian stars from the beach Greta Cicolari/Giulia Toti are once again heading the women’s main draw. With their social media posts they have actively expressed their eagerness to play on home snow. Having been the heavy pre-favourites at the first two stops of the Tour, but surprisingly settling “only” for silver on both occasions, they promised to give their maximum in order to please the home crowd in Kronplatz with the gold.
“We have two weeks to train hard before the next stop, so that we can finally step onto the top spot of the podium, in front of our Italian fans,” Cicolari said after the final in Wagrain-Kleinarl, Austria on March 20. Whether or not they trained hard enough to achieve their goal remains to be seen this weekend.
Fourteen more women’s duos have signed up for the snow battles in Kronplatz, among them – the Slovak-and-Czech tandem Silvia Poszmikova/Zuzana Vojtiskova, who won the first stop in Špindlerův Mlýn by beating Cicolari/Toti in the final. In the absence of Wagrain gold medallists Michaela Bertalanitsch/Marta Swiechowska Haladyn from Germany and Poland, respectively, Poszmikova/Vojtiskova are expected to be the home heroines’ toughest opponents on Italian snow. Germany, with four pairs, among which Alice Concas/Dalila D’Orazio – who placed fourth in Wagrain, and Austria, with one pair, are the other two countries to be represented in the women’s competition.
As many as 30 teams have registered for the men’s tournament. The Polish-and-Czech co-production of Michal Matyja/Robert Kufa is expected to shine again on the Italian snow after winning gold from the first stop in the Czech Republic. Austria’s Florian Schnetzer, one of the guys, who prevented Matyja from claiming a second gold by beating him and Bartlomiej Podgorski in the final in Wagrain-Kleinarl, will be teaming up with Germany’s Florian Schweikart this time, in an effort to defend the ‘King of the Snow’ crown earned at home two weeks ago alongside his compatriot Michael Leeb.
Poland’s Maciej Klimas/Kamil Łyczko, who took the bronze medal from Wagrain-Kleinarl, and Czech Republic’s Tomas Pala/Marcel Myslivecek, who reached but lost the bronze medal match in Špindlerův Mlýn, will also be highlighting the men’s battles on the snow courts in Kronplatz. Of course, the home country Italy will have the widest representation in the tournament with as many as 15 duos testing out the home snow and aiming at the continental honours.
“The weather will be perfect. The conditions will be very hard, because the snow is very deep and the weather is warm,” said Veit Manninger, Managing Director at Chaka2, the company promoting the CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour. “We are expecting a very interesting competition in Kronplatz, because we have several good Italian and foreign teams on site. Everybody is quite excited not only about who will win this stop, but because it is the last one of the season, also about who will win the big trophy of the 2016 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour.”
For further information visit also the official website www.snowvolleyball.com and the Instagram account @snowvolleyball
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