Mamaja/Aleksāne and Kender/Parijõgi win EEVZA U18 Beach Volleyball Championships in Cēsis

Latvia’s Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksāne and Estonia’s duo Armin Kender/Patrik Parijõgi were crowned winners of the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) U18 Beach Volleyball Championships held in Cēsis and organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation. Both teams also secured their right to compete in this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18 scheduled for mid-September in Corigliano Rossano, Italy. The same feat was achieved by the teams finishing in second place – Latvia’s Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš and Estonia’s Marta-Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimägi. 

In the women’s tournament, Mamaja and Aleksāne lost only one set throughout the whole competition. In the semi-finals, they defeated Poland’s Emilia Skwierczynska and Aleksandra Wolny (#4) in straight sets (21-17, 21-12). Meanwhile, the second-seeded Estonian pair Ploomipuu and Hanimägi dropped a set in both the quarterfinals and semi-finals. In the semis, they beat Ukraine’s Kateryna Nitsenko and Viktoriia Kachyoni (#12) with a score of 2-1 (21-16, 12-21, 15-12). In the final, however, the Latvian duo won convincingly, 2-0 (21-13, 21-18).

“We played with confidence. We only lost one set, and even that one we should have won,” said Aleksāne. “Before the tournament, I didn’t expect us to play so convincingly or that things would go so well. I thought the final would be tougher,” said Mamaja. “I’m happy with both the tournament victory and with qualifying for the European Championship final stage.”
“I would say I’m even happier about qualifying for the final stage of the continental tournament,” added Aleksāne. 

In the third-place match, the Ukrainian duo Nitsenko and Kachyoni defeated the Polish pair in straight sets (21-15, 26-24).

In the men’s final, the top two seeded teams faced off. Latvian favourites Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš secured a hard-fought semi-final victory over Ukraine’s Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan (#3) with a 2-1 result (17-21, 23-21, 16-14). On the other hand, Estonia’s Kender and Parijõgi (#2) reached the final by defeating Poland’s Igor Gliszczyński and Alan Robak (#7) in straight sets (21-16, 21-19).

In the final, the Estonian duo secured a 2-0 victory (21-13, 21-14) over the home heroes. The bronze medals went to Ukraine, whose team defeated Poland 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).

“The tournament was well organised. It was a pleasure to compete in Cēsis,” said the Estonian players. “Winning is always rewarding, but earning a place in the U18 European Championship and the opportunity to play against Europe’s best is especially exciting. We hope to deliver our best performance there.”

Athletes from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine took part in the championship. The top two teams in each gender qualified for this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18, which will take place from 11 to 15 September in Corigliano Rossano, Italy.

The next EEVZA event in Cēsis will be the U16 Championships, scheduled for 3-4 July, featuring 16 boys’ and just as many girls’ teams.

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