Eleven teams remain undefeated after opening day of EEVZA #EuroBeachVolleyU18 qualifier

Without suffering any losses, seven men’s and four women’s teams completed the first day of the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) U18 Beach Volleyball Championships with two victories each. The tournament organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation in Cēsis also serves as the first round of zonal qualification for this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18. 

In the men’s tournament, the top-seeded home team Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš secured two wins from two in Pool A. In Pool B, Estonia’s Armin Kender and Patrik Parijõgi (seeded #2) claimed both of their matches as well, including a walkover against Latvian duo Mārtiņš Jaundžeikars and Tomass Blekte. Polish players Igor Gliszczyński and Alan Robak (#7) achieved the same feat in that pool too. In Pool C, Azerbaijani pair Ibrahim Mammadov and Muhammad Aslanli (#3) as well as Ukrainians Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan (#6) remain undefeated. In Pool D, the Lithuanian team of Tomas Poplavskij and Danielius Sumeika (#4) earned two victories.

Among the women, the top-seeded home players Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksāne won both their matches in Pool A, defeating a team from Azerbaijan in straight sets and then beating the Estonian duo Marta-Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimägi (#2) in three sets (25-27, 21-13, 15-4). Lithuanian duo Meja Gurciutė and Beatrice Michalkevičiūtė (#6) also finished the day unbeaten and handed the only loss to Latvia’s Denēva Šauberga and Marija Dārta Jaundžeikare (311). Ukrainians Kateryna Nitsenko and Viktoriia Kachyoni notched two wins as well.

The second competition day will feature the final round of group stage matches and the first two rounds of the elimination stage. The group winners will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while those finishing in second and third place in their pools will compete in the first round of the playoffs.

Teams from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine are competing for medals and a place in the final round of the U18 European Beach Volleyball Championships. The top two teams in each gender will secure their ticket to the event scheduled for September 11 to 15 in Corigliano Rossano, Italy. 

Moreover, on July 3-4, Cēsis will also host the EEVZA U16 Championships featuring 16 teams in each gender. 

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