Budapest to host last Nations Cup pools this weekend
News
The Preliminary Phase of the 2023 CEV Beach Volleyball Nations Cup will be completed this weekend, when competition in the seventh and last pools for men and women will be held in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
As many as nine different countries will be in action between Saturday and Sunday, with Austria, Croatia, England and Italy competing against Hungary in the women’s Pool D and Czechia, France, Northern Ireland and Portugal battling the host country in the women’s Pool G. The winners in each gender will advance to the 2023 Nations Cup Finals, which will be held later this year.
The final matches of both pools on Sunday will be streamed live on CEV’s YouTube channel.
The women’s tournament should feature an exciting duel between Austria and Italy, countries that have the strongest teams in the event and which both took part in the Nations Cup inaugural edition, in 2022.
The Austrians won’t count on one of their top players, Lena Plesiutschnig, who’s injured, but her partner Katharina Schützenhöfer will be in action, paired with Franziska Friedl. The country’s second team will have the Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja.
Tiê Santana“After working hard on preseason, we had our teams play on Beach Pro Tour events in Mexico and Brazil and I see a good technical development. We have taken steps forward individually and as a team. We will represent Austria with a lot of passion in Budapest and will do our best.”
Austrian Head Coach
Currently in tenth place in the FIVB World Rankings, Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi will lead the Italian team in Budapest this week. The two will have Chiara They and Sofia Arcaini by their side as the second Italian duo.
The other three countries have limited international experience, with Croatia being represented by Ema Mrkic/Ana Sverko and Lucijana Terze/Lea Rasic, England sending Anaya Evans/Daisy Mumby and Katia Keefe/Isabelle Tucker and hosts Hungary selecting Adrienn Szabó/Lilla Villám and Csenge Villám/Kinga Windisch.
The men’s event in Budapest has France and Czechia standing out from the competition. The French enter the event as the favorites, represented by Beach Pro Tour veterans Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and the Aye brothers Quincy and Calvin.
Even without its top team of Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner, Czechia enter the event with big aspirations, having the duos of Jakub Sepka/Tomas Semerad and Martin Melmuka/David Westphal carrying the country’s flag in Budapest.
With all four players aged 23 or less, Portugal enter the pool determined to be the dark horses. The country’s top duo of João Pedrosa and Hugo Campos will be joined by Guilherme Maia, the son of the legendary Miguel Maia, and his partner Filipe Leite.
Filipe Leite“I expect some very tough competition since a spot in the Paris 2024 Games could be won through the Nations Cup. This event will demand a lot of focus and determination from us as we represent our country. It’s the first international event of the season for us and I hope we can perform at a good level, but I’m aware we’ll face some touch challenges.”
Portuguese Beach Volleyball Player
Completing the tournament’s lineup Hungary will have Artúr Hajós/Bence Stréli and Csanád Petik/Domonkos Dóczi and Northern Ireland will be represented by Gavin McCaughern/Jonathan Workman and Jeff Scott/Peter Stewart.
The seven pool winners and the host country will compete in the 2023 Nations Cup Finals. Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway have qualified among the men, while the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, Switzerland, France and Germany are guaranteed in the women’s event.
Created in 2022, the Nations Cup brings added weight in 2023 and 2024, serving as the European pathway in the qualification system for the beach volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics – the countries that win the 2024 Finals among the men and the women will each earn a spot in the Games.
The event has a different competition format, promoting ‘country vs. country’ battles. Each nation is represented by two teams and the duels take place in a best-of-three format, with the decider, if needed, being a 15-point golden set.