Continent’s future stars play for U18 EuroBeachVolley gold in Greece

Beach volleyball teams from 35 nations are ready to compete for the last continental title of the season as the CEV U18 Beach Volleyball Championship 2022 is set to begin on Wednesday in Loutraki, Greece.

The 21^st edition of the tournament starts with the qualifier for both genders on Wednesday. With the 32 men’s and women’s main draw teams set, the main phase of the event will run from Thursday to Sunday, when the champions will be crowned.

Reigning U18 European champions Leona Kernen, 17, and Muriel Bossart, 16, of Switzerland will be back to defend the title they won last year in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The two, who last year also took bronze in the U21 World Championship, are the third-seeded duo in the women’s tournament.

Among their main rivals in the tournament should be Latvians Deniela Konstantinova, 17, and Liva Ebere, 14, who took silver in this year’s U20 EuroBeachVolley. The Latvians are seeded 23^rd and will also represent their country at the U19 World Championship, which will be played in two weeks in Türkiye.

Germany have won more gold medals among the women than any other European nation with six victories. Each of the last four editions of the U18 EuroBeachVolley had a different country at the top of the podium, though, with Germany triumphing in 2018, Russia following in 2019, Ukraine winning in 2020 and Switzerland prevailing last year.

Among the men, new champions will be crowned following the victory of Russians Vladislav Panchenko and Ivan Chuprinov in 2021. Their country leads the gold medal count for the event with six, but could be caught by Poland, who have five, in this year’s edition if fifth-seeded Szymon Beta and Artem Besarab triumph.

The only player in position to defend and U18 European title in the tournament will be 17-year-old Ukrainian Yevhenii Boiko, who took gold with Vladyslav Omelchuk in 2020. This year, he’ll play with Maksym Svyrydov.

Another player with a winning track record in Age Group European Championships is Swedish Jacob Nilsson. The 17-year-old paired with recently crowned EuroBeachVolley champion David Åhman just two months ago to win the U22 EuroBeachVolley. In Loutraki, he will play with Erik Ask.

Latvian Kristian Fokerots is probably the player with the most experience among the ones entered in the event. The 17-year-old defender’s regular partner in Tokyo Olympic semifinalist Edgars Tocs and the two have played in seven Beach Pro Tour events in 2022. The Latvian, who won silver medals at the 2020 U18 EuroBeachVolley and this year’s U22 EuroBeachVolley, will compete with Gustavs Auzins.

Wednesday’s qualifiers will determine the last two teams in each gender guaranteed in the main draw in Loutraki. The women’s contest will reunite six duos – Norway’s Julia Tenøy/Melina Mol, Türkiye’s Ceylin Sayar/Su Simdim, Serbia’s Milica Balac/Sofija Marjanovic, Portugal’s Ana Monteiro/Margarida Santos, Moldavia’s Valeria Gherman/Daria Usatova and Scotland’s Lucy Paterson/Lauren Hislop.

The men’s qualifier has seven teams entered in Norway’s Even Aas/Tobias Pedersen, Spain’s Ian Martí/Javier Yuste, Finland’s Aleksi Hänninen/William Groffier, Slovakia’s Denis Lapos/Jan Almasi, Andorra’s Mateo Ferreyra/Nahuel Tagliaferro, Serbia’s Pavle Burgacic/Lazar Zubovic and Scotland’s Cole Turnbull/Ewan Ramsay.