Serdiuk and Romaniuk take gold in Warsaw
Futures in Europe
Young Ukrainians Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk were the sensations of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour action in Europe, triumphing in the Futures tournament held in the Polish capital Warsaw on Sunday.
Playing together for just the fifth time, the 20-year-old Ukrainians, who won the 2022 U19 World Championships, had a remarkable week at the Plaza Wilanow, winning all their seven matches with just one set dropped to secure their first senior international title.
Serdiuk and Romaniuk, who started their campaign in Warsaw on Thursday’s qualifier, had a tough challenge on Sunday’s gold medal match, facing the home team of Aleksandra Wachowicz and Julia Radelczuk, but dominated their opponents to win in straight sets (21-12, 21-14) and take gold.
Lithuania was the third European nation represented at the podium in Warsaw as Daniele Kvedaraite and Jekaterina Kovalskaja secured bronze for the second time in their last three events, overcoming Ukrainians Inna Makhno and Sofiia Rylova in the tie-breaker (21-17, 17-21, 15-12) to finish in the top three.
In two weeks, the season of Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe will come to an end, with two tournaments taking place simultaneously – the Turkish city of Balıkesir will welcome competition for men and women from September 19-22, with the Spanish town of Castellón hosting a women’s event from September 18-21.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable international ranking points.