Czech Republic and Latvia take U18 European titles in Loutraki
News
The Czech Republic and Latvia stood at the top of the podium of the 2022 CEV U18 EuroBeachVolley as the event came to an end on Sunday in Loutraki, Greece, with the Pavelková twins Katerina and Anna and Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auzins taking the titles.
The 16-year-old Pavelková twins had a remarkable campaign in the women’s tournament in Loutraki, winning all of the seven matches they played in the Greek city. In the gold medal match, they handled Austrians Lia Berger and Lilli Hohenauer in straight sets (21-18, 21-14) to secure the title.
Katerina Pavelková“We’re so happy! We came here to do our best, but we didn’t have the gold medal in our sights as the tournament started. To jump from 17th last season to first this time, it was incredible. The gold medal match was really difficult, but we made it.”
U18 EuroBeachVolley winner
The result is the biggest win in their young international careers, which has a 13th-place finish at this year’s U20 EuroBeachVolley and a 17th-place finish at last year’s U18 EuroBeachVolley. In ten days, Anna and Katerina will represent the Czech Republic at the U19 World Championship in Dikili, Türkiye.
The twins are just the third Czech team to claim gold at the U18 EuroBeachVolley, joining Olympians Marketa Sluková and Kristyna Kolocová, who took the title in 2005, and Marie-Sara Stochlova and Martina Maixnerova, who won the tournament in 2016.
Dutch Mila Konink and Noa Sonneville took bronze and also stepped on the podium after they overcame Latvians Liva Ēbere and Deniela Konstantinova also in two sets (21-19, 21-18), taking their country back to the top three after four editions.
Among the men, the 17-year-old Fokerots and Auzins became the first Latvian men’s team to win gold in the Age Group. They did so by taking Danish Andreas Brinck and Hjalmer Madsen down in the two-set (21-15, 21-18) gold medal match. The Latvians won the title without dropping a single set in their campaign of seven wins in Loutraki.
Kristians Fokerots“We finally did it! We got so close last year, but ended up losing in the semifinals and because of that we really wanted to win this time. Loutraki is an amazing city and the tournament was very well-organized. We had a really pleasant week here and fortunately it ended in the best possible way.”
U18 EuroBeachVolley winner
The two, who will also be on the court at the U19 World Championship in ten days, had finished fourth in last year’s U18 EuroBeachVolley. Fokerots, who regularly competes at the Volleyball World Beach pro Tour with Tokyo Olympic semifinalist Edgars Tocs, has two other continental Age Group medals to his name – he took silver at the 2020 U18 EuroBeachVolley with Karlis Abelitis and at this year’s U22 EuroBeachVolley with Arturs Rinkevics.
The bronze medals in Loutraki went to Belgians Alexy Humblet and Daan Hendrikx, who topped Poles Artem Besarab and Szymon Beta 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) in the third-place match.
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