13/01/2019 19:00
Russia sweep gold and silver medals at European Tour stop in Turkey
CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019 - Erciyes
Erciyes, Turkey, January 13, 2019. Russia cemented their status as real Snow Volleyball powerhouse as they claimed five of the six medals at stake on Sunday when the second stop of the CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour 2019 reached its climax at Mount Erciyes. Despite the challenging weather conditions, with snowfall and temperatures falling much lower than earlier this week, the players delivered a real show for the fans in attendance. Reigning European champions Ruslan Daianov and Taras Myskiv happily reunited for the first time since last year’s #EuroSnowVolley in Austria as they claimed their second straight gold medal in Turkey, this time together with new partner Aleksandr Kramarenko.
Sunday’s programme included many matches, i.e. quarterfinals, semis and medal matches. Italy’s women put up a fight in their quarterfinal with Team Russia 1, but after a great comeback to win the second set, they ended up losing 1-2 to the quartet consisting of Olga Motrich, Ekaterina Syrtseva, Evgeniya Volodarskaya and Ksenia Khakimzyanova. “I really enjoyed playing here in Erciyes, where everything is well organised. We played against almost the same Russian team in Moscow as well and we made some adjustments. You could see that these worked as we won the second set 15-7,” said Italy’s Federica Tonon. “Snow Volleyball is growing as a sport and you can see that the rule changes have added more excitement to it.”
Ekaterina Syrtseva spikes through the block during the women’s final at Mount Erciyes.
Turkey had one women’s team in the semis after they beat Slovakia 2-0 in the quarterfinals. However, the hosts lost to Russia 2 in the semis but Yurtsever/Gokalp/Celebi regrouped and with the loud support of the audience, they beat Czech Republic to claim the last spot on the podium. As for the final, Team Russia 1 beat Russia 2 in straight sets in a derby where Motrich, Syrtseva, Khakimzyanova and Volodarskaya edged Anastasia Pavlova, Elizaveta Novikova, Elizaveta Terenteva and Uliana Lapteva.
Russian teams were even more dominant in the men’s competition, sweeping all of the four spots available in the semis. “Snow Volleyball is a good sport for Russian players, since we are comfortable with the weather and the court conditions,” explained Viktor Markov.
Markov and his partners Vitalii Shabalin, Nikolay Polikarpov and Adel Kayumov had to be content with a second silver medal in a row after achieving the same feat in Moscow back in December. They lost to reigning European champions Daianov and Myskiv and their partner Kramarenko at the end of an exciting match that featured skyballs, powerful hits and long rallies. Daianov and Myskiv were playing their first tournament together since last year’s European Championship but they seem to be still as dominant as they were when playing 2 vs. 2.
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