Jurmala Futures moves to knockout mode, nine home teams continue their run

The top 12 teams in the men’s and women’s competition were determined on Friday at the Beach Pro Tour (BPT) Futures tournament in Jurmala. Competing for the top spots over the weekend will be pairs from the USA, Poland, Spain, Serbia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Germany, Norway, Estonia and Finland, as well as nine home teams, including world champions Tina Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova, Latvian champions Ardis Bedrītis and Artūrs Rinkevičs, as well as Olympian Edgars Točs and U21 world champion Gustavs Auziņš. 

The third day of the tournament began with the final group matches in the men’s competition, where Matīss Šalkovskis/Kārlis Jaundžeikars secured first place and a pathway in the top twelve with a 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 15-12) victory over the Americans Benjamin Vaught/Mitchell Keddie, Edgars Točs/Gustavs Auziņš with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) victory over the Czechs Lukas Olsansky/Tobias Brnak, and Ardis Bedrītis/Artūrs Rinkevičs with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) shutout of Mica Bezemer/Bram van der Wel from the Netherlands.

“Today there were relatively better conditions, also more spectators. The Dutch fought, played steadily and cared for the ball well, so it was not easy. We also tried to play more steadily ourselves and there are still things that need to be improved, but we will sort them out by the knockout tournament,” said Rinkevičs after the game.

Mihails Samoilovs and Mārcis Bērziņš were in a more difficult situation, as they were the only Latvian men’s team to lose their first game of the group stage on Thursday. The elimination tournament started earlier for them than the others, as they had to win both games on Friday to enter the top twelve, but the Latvian players did it with honour. First, they defeated Simon Leffler/Daniel Allemann from Switzerland 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-8), before in the last game of the evening session they defeated their compatriots Ernests Puškundzis and Toms Liepa 2-0 (21-18, 21-18).

Olivers Bulgačs and Markuss Graudiņš also reached the next round with a bit of nerves, having lost to Lithuanians Audrius Knasas/Povilas Piesina in the morning (17-21, 15-21), but in the decisive game for a place in the top twelve they defeated the Finnish brothers Arttur and Valtter Pennanen 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-12). “Today we were not playing well, right from the morning. I won’t lie to anyone – today I was fighting more with myself,” Graudiņš was dissatisfied with his performance. “We couldn’t block and pass a ball, but it’s nice that with the help of the spectators we broke the game. In fact, we thought this game would be a little easier, but the Finns played really well, hitting almost all the balls.”

They will face Charlie Peters and Colin Alexander Paszkiewicz of Germany for a place in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Click here for further info: https://beachevents.cev.eu/beach/competition/1840 

In the women’s tournament, Latvian duo Renāte Krūklīte/Estere Zaķīte bounced back from a first-set defeat in the first round of the elimination tournament and defeated Paula Krieva/Alisa Aleksāne 2-1 (10-21, 21-19, 15-11), thus joining another three home teams that secured a place in the top twelve with a group victory. This feat was also achieved on Friday by Zuzanna Michalska/Maja Kruczek (Poland), Cathrine Eikeland Hjeltnes/Julja Tennøy (Norway), Eva Liisa Kuivonen/Liisa-Lotta Jürgenson (Estonia), Sara Sinisalo/Maisa Kyröläinen (Finland) and Katie Lindstrom/Kennedy Coakley (USA). The American team had a tight game against fifth seed Barbora Tokosova/Martina Terenova from Slovakia – 2-1 (11-21, 21-18, 15-9).

The battle for a place in the quarterfinals at Majori Beach will begin on Saturday at 10 am. The tournament main favourites Tina Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova will take to the court at 11:40 am, when they will play against Sinisalo and Kyröläinen. The subsequent quarterfinal matches are scheduled for Saturday evening.

Click here for further info: https://beachevents.cev.eu/beach/competition/1846