Slovenia’s women qualify for the Nations Cup Final
News
The Slovenian women’s Beach Volleyball team has achieved a major breakthrough. Featuring Tjaša Kotnik and Anja Puckmeister as well as Živa Javornik and Maja Marolt, they secured first place in the group stage of the Nations Cup held in Constanța this past week and will therefore compete in the grand finale in Budapest this coming July.
Team Slovenia recently completed their campaign in the group stage of the Nations Cup. After splitting Saturday’s matches against the Czech team, the Slovenians first defeated Romania and then Croatia on Sunday to secure their place in the final.
The Slovenian pairs Tjaša Kotnik and Anja Puckmeister, along with Živa Javornik and Maja Marolt, opened Pool A competition in Constanța against Czechia. Kotnik and Puckmeister played the opening match and, after a fierce battle, lost 21-18, 17-21, 9-15 to the Czech duo Brinkova/Žolnerčikova. Javornik and Marolt then stepped onto the sand and defeated Dvornikova/Kleiblova 18-21, 21-17, 15-12.
The second day of competition started successfully for the Slovenian representatives, as both pairs defeated their Romanian rivals. Kotnik and Puckmeister comfortably beat Murgoci and Miu 21-8, 21-15. An hour later, Javornik and Marolt also secured victory, overcoming Alupei/Vaida 22-20, 21-16. Slovenia concluded the tournament in Romania with matches against Croatia. Kotnik and Puckmeister convincingly defeated Čuček/Vuk 21-8, 21-13, while Javornik and Marolt recorded another dominant win, 21-9, 21-12 against Čosić and Šverko.
Slovenian head coach Tadej Boženk was very satisfied after the performances in Romania: “The matches are behind us, and we did our job. I think the girls really showed fighting spirit, even though the conditions were not easy. We had wind, rain, sunshine – every possible weather condition you can get in Romania at this time of year. The girls adapted extremely well to the conditions, set by set. My sincere congratulations to them because they really worked hard, stayed focused, and had the desire to win. I am only sorry about the first match against Czechia, where Tjaša and Anja had a great rhythm, a great opportunity, and played very well, but the Czech pair were also excellent and ultimately fortunate that the match turned in their favour. I just hope that won’t be the match that keeps us from reaching the final.”
After the final match of the day, in which Romania’s Alupei and Vaida surprised the Czech pair Dvornikova/Kleiblova, it became clear that Slovenia had secured first place in Pool A, thereby guaranteeing them a place in the finals in Budapest from July 16 to 19.
Boženk added: “We finished the tournament in Romania with first place. I am truly very happy that we achieved this and qualified for the finals. We continue this Nations Cup journey and head to Budapest. The girls wanted this very much. They worked hard, trusted each other, and what matters most to me is that they played as a true team, as a real national squad. When things got tough, they encouraged one another and cheered for each other. Every point mattered. We did our part, and then we had to wait to see how the match between the Czech and Romanian teams would unfold. When all the points were counted, we celebrated. Congratulations to the girls – I am very happy and I hope we can achieve a good result in Budapest as well.”
Živa Javornik, who together with Maja Marolt recorded three wins in as many matches, said after the tournament that the Slovenian team showed its current maximum level in Constanța: “I think we girls can be very satisfied with the performance we showed. We gave our all in every match. In the end, we won all the matches except one, and even that one we lost 1-2. Our biggest rivals were the Czech team, and that was also our most important match. We played them on the first day and performed well in both matches. On Sunday we had two easier opponents, Romania and Croatia. I think we showed everything we had – good team spirit and good work with our coaches.”
Tjaša Kotnik, considered the most experienced member of the national team and partnered with newcomer Anja Puckmeister, was especially pleased with how well the team handled all conditions:
“This morning we had our first match against Romania. The conditions were challenging, very windy, but both teams played excellently and both won their matches 2-0. In the afternoon we played Croatia, who fought well, but we were still the better team and both of our pairs won 2-0. We finished the day with four victories and hoped it would be enough to qualify for the finals.”
So far, the qualified teams for the Final are the Netherlands, Latvia, and Slovenia, while the remaining two qualifying tournaments will take place in Türkiye in early June. The host nation Hungary will also compete for the prestigious title in the only national-team competition in Beach Volleyball. The two runners-up across all pools with the highest position in the CEV Country Ranking will reach the final stage of the competition as well.
Pictures courtesy of Elis Iordache