Vilnius back on the global Beach Volleyball map
News
Beach Volleyball competition of the highest calibre returns to Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, with the preliminary phase of the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup scheduled for later this weekend as teams pursue their dream of competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“We are excited to have such an amazing tournament in the heart of our capital while having the strongest home teams on board. Being so close to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, we do believe that the event will be a memorable one as each participating country is fighting for their ticket to the Olympics. The opportunity to be competing at the Olympics comes by only once every four years. We are especially happy that the City of Vilnius is helping us in organising such an important event. Hopefully, by the end of the week we will see our teams seize the ticket to the Nations Cup Final in Jurmala,” said Alisa Cesnuleviciute, Secretary General of the Lithuanian Volleyball Federation.
“We are also super happy to host here in Vilnius the CEV Beach Volleyball Candidate Supervisor Course – so Vilnius is again a real Beach Volleyball hub after some pause,” she adds. Click here for further information on the Supervisor Course.
The event has been supported by the Vilnius Municipality with a significant effort in welcoming all the teams and fans for the competition.
Only the winners of the group in Vilnius will advance to the final stage of the competition in neighbouring Latvia.
Local stars Patrikas Stankevicius/Audrius Knasas are excited to be playing at home.
Patrikas Stankevicius“We are happy that we finally have such a high-level tournament in Lithuania, especially in such a beautiful location and with such great weather. I believe that it will be a real party both for us and for the fans, despite the pressure and anticipation that have been mounting."
The fans in Vilnius will have a great opportunity to follow and support home favourites Monika Paulikienė and Aine Raupelytė, who are close to securing the Olympic ticket via the FIVB ranking.
“We are very happy to play in our home arena. We have been missing that feeling. We are very much looking forward to the support of the spectators and cannot wait to get out on the court as soon as possible. It is great to see good weather too. Strong teams from Austria and Slovenia are awaiting us here in Vilnius, so it will not be easy, but all opponents are beatable. We wish success to our second team as well, so that they do well and together we achieve a good overall result for Team Lithuania,”
said Paulikienė who back in 2018 was crowned European Snow Volleyball champion with former partner Ieva Dumbauskaite.
On Friday, in the very heart of the gorgeous city of Vilnius – on the courts near the so-called White Bridge – teams from 12 countries will compete for a ticket to the Nations Cup Final in Jurmala. Players from Lithuania, Ukraine, Belgium, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, and Gibraltar will contest the men’s tournament. On the other hand, teams from Lithuania, Austria, Slovenia, Estonia, Romania, and Slovakia will compete in the women’s event.