Double triumph for Ukrainian youngsters at EEVZA U16 Beach Volleyball Championships

The sand of Cesis proved a ‘fertile’ ground for the visitors from Ukraine, who emerged victorious across both genders at the EEVZA U16 Beach Volleyball Championships organised in Latvia this past weekend. 

In the boys’ competition, Gleb Magnus and Stanislav Danyliuk defeated Daniel Urbaniak and Marcel Kruk from Poland 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-8) in a tense three-set final, while locals Markuss Dimitrijevs and Toms Ločs secured third place by beating Lithuania’s Tautvydas Galubickas and Tauras Šidlauskas 2-0 (21-7, 21-16) in a match-up between the two top-seeded teams.
The finalists had already locked horns in the group stage, where the Ukrainians also prevailed, but Kruk and Urbaniak secured the silver medal after navigating a difficult bracket that included four three-set matches afterwards. In the first round, they staged a comeback to defeat their compatriots Marcel Kassin and Dawid Stuldych 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 16-14); in the quarterfinals, they beat the home team of Viktors Rukans and Kaidens Džeimss Maršāns 2-1 (19-21, 21-13, 15-12) and in the semi-finals they overcame Galubickas and Šidlauskas 2-1 (21-16, 22-24, 15-7) too. The path for Magnus and Danyliuk was much smoother, featuring a 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) quarterfinal victory over Estonia’s Uku Kristen Kais and Dominik Jõesaar, followed by a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) semi-final win against Dimitrijevs and Ločs.

In the girls’ final, Ukrainians Polina Krainia and Vira Hudz defeated Poland’s Alicija Skaba and Zuzanna Pogorzelska 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-6). Interestingly, these teams had previously met in the group stage as well, where the Ukrainian duo had come out on top. The eventual champions went on to defeat Lithuania’s Radvile Daknyte and Daniele Zemaityte 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) in the quarterfinals and Poland’s Anna Leciak/Alicja Latwis 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) in the semis. Leciak/Latwis won the bronze medals after defeating the home duo of Emilija Birzkalne and Marija Vorobeja 2-0 (21-18, 21-15).

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