Latvians sweep two gold medals at EEVZA under-age Beach Volleyball Championships

The 2023 edition of the U18 and U16 Beach Volleyball Championships run by the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) reached its climax on Wednesday at the O-Sands courts in Riga, where home teams from Latvia claimed two titles – and duos from Ukraine and Poland secured the remaining crowns. The event in Riga featured teams from six EEVZA countries – Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine and was an ideal dress rehearsal ahead of #EuroBeachVolleyU20 – which is due to take place at the same venue later this month. 

In the U18 men’s competition, first-seeded Kārlis Jaundžeikars and Matīss Šalkovskis of Latvia triumphed on home sand after defeating the second-seeded Polish team Jakub Krzeminski and Marcel Wanat 2-0 (21-19, 21-11). The Ukrainians Tymofii Tverdokhlib and Dmytro Kozii finished in third place, after a hard-fought bronze medal match with Lithuania’s Raigardas Mačionis and Dovydas Sinkevičius (2-1; 21-19, 20-22, 15-11).

Paulina Labuz and Julia Radelczuk of Poland defeated home favourites and seventh-seeded Marta Beatrise Gintere and Eva Elizabete Brokāne 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) in the final of the U18 women’s tournament. In the fight for bronze, Joanna Bartosiewicz and Zuzanna Rapczynska beat Ukraine’s Soffia Shchutska and Kateryna Biliak 2-1 (21-11, 15-21, 15-8) to double the Polish contingent on the podium. The Ukrainians had caused a surprise in the quarterfinals with their 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) victory over the no. 1 seeded and event favourites, twin sisters Katrina and Karmena Struka from Latvia.

Ukraine’s Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan emerged as the winners of the U16 men’s tournament after defeating Toomas Patrik Parejogi and Armin Kender from Estonia (21-19, 21-11) in the final. The third place was claimed by another Ukrainian duo, Bohdan Romanyshyn/Mykola Trofymchuk, who beat the main favourites from Latvia, Tomass Blekte and Bruno Liepiņš in straight sets (21-10, 21-17) in the bronze medal match.

Seeded only at no. 9 out of the 12 teams in the competition, Milana Tina Aleksejeva and Megija Rumaka of Latvia were the winners of the U16 girls’ competition following a close final (17-21, 21-10, 15-11) against Oleksandra Krasnozhon and Mariia Shkurat of Ukraine (#2). The bronze medals went to Estonia’s Marta Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimagi, who beat the main favourites of the competition from Latvia, Monika Mamaja and Denēva Šauberga Lēpe in three sets (15-21, 21-13, 15-9).

Click here for further information on the U18 championships. 

Click here for further details on the U16 competition.