Erciyes/Kayseri, Turkey, February 18, 2017. The first stop of the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour drew to a close on Sunday at Erciyes, with teams from Turkey and Romania claiming the top honours in the men’s and women’s competition, respectively.

Murat Giginoglu/Safa Urlu claimed an all-Turkish men’s semi-final as they beat Emir Kavuzlu/Kemal Sah 11-8, 12-10. Hasan Hüseyin Mermer/Ali Osman Nurettin followed suit as they rallied to an 11-8, 12-10 victory in their matchup with Dündar Yildirim and Borak Pelenk. Kavuzlu/Sah settled for the bronze medal as they won the ‘small final’ with Yildirim/Pelenk in three sets (11-8, 9-11, 11-4). Later on, Giginoglu/Urlu – one of Turkey’s most accomplished Beach Volleyball teams – celebrated their first major success on snow as they claimed a close final match with Mermer/Nurettin 2-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-9).

In the women’s semis, Turkey’s Merve Nezir/Esra Betül Cetin beat Aleyna Vence/Nursel Yaren Sencel 2-0 (11-8, 11-4) in another derby starring two teams from the host country. Romania’s rising Beach Volleyball stars Adriana-Maria Matei/Beata Vaida won the second semi-final as they beat Silvia Poszmikova and Eva Elekova of Slovakia 2-0 as well (11-3, 11-8). Matei/Vaida eventually crowned with gold their campaign on Turkish snow as they beat home stars Nezir/Cetin 3-1 in the ‘big final’ (11-7, 20-18, 12-14, 11-8). Poszmikova/Elekova won bronze as they edged Vence/Sencel in the third place match (6-11, 13-11, 11-5).  

The 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour will resume next weekend with a second stop, which will be taking place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. The tournament at Mount Erciyes coincided with the first ever international Snow Volleyball competition organised in Turkey, with a second set to follow in early March at Mt. Uludag.

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