Azerrail completes clean sweep at Azerbaijan’s national championships

The Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation (AVF) organised this past weekend the 2024 edition of their national Beach Volleyball championships, with the competition counting also as a qualifier for the Beach Volley European Cup 2024 scheduled for later this year. The event featured as many as nine and 10 clubs in the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively, and it did follow the same rules and format as the Beach Volley European Cup run by the CEV. 

According to the regulations, each club participated with two teams, composed of athletes over 16 years old. They first competed in two preliminary groups, with the top two from each pool advancing to the playoffs.

Team Azerrail-1 emerged victorious with their men’s and women’s teams as well. They did so after some intense final matches, where they beat Azerrail-3 and Murov-Az Terminal in the men’s and women’s title deciding fixtures, respectively. This means that Azerrail is due to represent Azerbaijan at this year’s Beach Volley European Cup. Last year, Murov-Az Terminal claimed a historic triumph for Azerbaijan at the inaugural Beach Volley European Cup held in Balikesir, Türkiye.  

The bronze medal matches were just as exciting and dramatic, as they were both decided via a Golden Set. Azerrail-2 beat Team Shamkir in the men’s ‘small final’ as the team representing the National Aviation Academy achieved the same feat in the women’s competition after edging Azerrail-2. 

Following the final matches, an awarding and closing ceremony was held. Bahruz Guliyev, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation, and Elgar Baghirov, a member of the AVF Board of Administration, presented diplomas and medals to the winners.