Home teams delight fans in Jurmala with double success

Latvian Beach Volleyball duos emerged victorious from three-set thrillers as the Beach Pro Tour (BPT) Futures concluded on Sunday in Jurmala. In the women’s tournament, world champions Tina Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova defeated Clara Windeleff and Astrid Mellmølle from Denmark 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-9) in the decisive match, while in the men’s competition, the home team Edgars Točs and Gustavs Auziņš defeated their countrymen Ardis Bedrītis and Artūrs Rinkevičs 2-1 (21-15, 18-21, 15-12).

The final act proved to be the most difficult for the tournament’s main stars, Graudina and Samoilova, as they had to fight back after losing the first set in the semi-finals against Estonia’s Eva Liisa Kuivonen and Liisa-Lotta Jürgenson. However, the Latvian team avenged the loss they suffered in Jurmala a year ago with a 2-1 (17-21, 21-12, 15-8) victory. The dynamic Danish duo, meanwhile, defeated Spaniards Marta Carro and Adriana Serrano much more convincingly in the other semi (21-15, 21-11). The first set of the final was a close affair, until the referee called a foul by the Latvians when they had a potential set point. Windeleff and Mellmølle took advantage of this opportunity and claimed the lead. At the end of the second set, the home team looked in control, and they subsequently started the third set very confidently, thus laying the foundation for victory in the tournament.

“We did not know all the teams here so well, so it takes a while to understand their playing style. Plus, the Danes served so well in the final! They are really good,” said Graudiņa. Her partner Samoilova added that they also had to serve more aggressively to gain a bigger advantage with their block. “Thank you to the fans who came here today, because we participated in this tournament only because of you!” the Latvian star thanked the audience in front of the packed Majori Beach Stadium. “A three-set thriller, which we won in the end – what more could the audience want?!”

Three sets were also needed to determine the winners of the men’s tournament. In the match between two Latvian teams, Točs and Auziņš started the game more convincingly against the number one-ranked team Bedrītis and Rinkevičs, but in the second set they lost the thread of the game for a moment. In a tense third set, the eventual champions made several breakthroughs, the last of which ultimately turned out to be worth the title. “Before the tournament, I promised - if we show even half of the performance that we show in training, then it will be good. In the final, we finally managed to show that half, because until then we were struggling quite a bit. I think it was easier for us in the last game, because the opponents were the favourites and we did not have to prove anything” said Točs. He singled out his 21-year-old partner as the main forger of the success. “I believe in this young man, everything will work out for us. We just need to get some game practice, prove ourselves in the qualifiers for more important tournaments and move forward,” added the 37-year-old Točs. Auziņš agreed that he managed to show his best performance in the tournament in the final: “The atmosphere was indescribable, so we felt very free, and that helped us win.”

The bronze medal in the women’s tournament went to Kuivonen and Jürgenson, who also climbed the podium in Jurmala a year ago. In the third-place match, they defeated Carro and Serrano 2-0 (22-20, 21-16). In the men’s tournament, third place was claimed by Ukraine’s Ivan Datsiuk and Oleksii Bublyk. They defeated Serbians Marko Makaric and Djordje Klasnic, who delighted the fans with frequent skyball serves, 2-0 (21-18, 21-16).

Click here for further info about women’s tournament: https://beachevents.cev.eu/beach/competition/1846 

Click here for further info about men’s tournament: https://beachevents.cev.eu/beach/competition/1840