Teams from Estonia and Lithuania triumph at EEVZA zonal event in Kloogaranna

The annual Mati Vetevoolu Memorial Tournament held in Kloogaranna, Estonia, this year counted for the first time as a stop of the EEVZA Beach Volleyball Tour. The trophies went to players from Estonia and Lithuania, as Rasmus Meius and Kaur Erik Kais triumphed in men’s competition, whereas Lithuania’s Ariana Rudkovskaja and Skalve Krizanauskaite stood on top of the women’s podium. 

In the men’s tournament, as many as three Estonian teams reached the semis, all of whom eventually stood on the podium – winners Meius and Kais, their opponents in the final, Mihkel Nuut and Karl Maidle, and the third-place finishers Urmas Piik and Dimitriy Korotkov. Latvians Olivers Bulgacs and Markuss Graudins finished the competition in fourth place. 
 
Both the men’s semis followed a similar pattern, whereby the pair, which eventually advanced to the final, lost the first set by a large margin, claimed the second by a very small gap, and performed more solidly in the decisive third set. Thus, in the semi-finals Nuut/Maidle beat 2-1 (9-21, 21-19, 15-12) the young Latvians Bulgacs and Graudins, whereas Meius and Kais edged their compatriots Piik/Korotkov (11-21, 22-20, 15-11).
 
In the men’s final, Nuut and Maidle put up a real fight against Meius and Kais, but the youngsters who are competing together for the first time this summer were able to control the number of their own mistakes, and with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory, it was Rasmus Meius and Kaur Erik Kais who took the highest step of the podium. The good momentum of Meius and Kais is also shown by the fact that in the eighth final, they beat the winners of last year’s Mati Vetevoolu Memorial Tournament, Lithuania’s Mantas Donela and Karolis Palubinskas, in straight sets. 
 
The bronze medal was taken home by Piik and Korotkov, who defeated their southern neighbours Bulgacs and Graudins by 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) in an extremely close match. 
 
In the women’s competition, the balance of power was the opposite – only Eva Liisa Kuivonen and Liisa-Lotta Jürgenson held the Estonian flag high on the final day, while Ukrainian duo Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk and Lithuanian pairs Ariana Rudkovskaja and Skalve Krizanauskaite, Lilija Firinovic and Vlada Oganauskiene were in contention for a medal as well. 
 
Kuivonen and Jürgenson eventually settled for third place in Kloogaranna. In the semi-finals, the Estonian women faced the Ukrainians and lost in straight sets (12-21, 19-21). 

In the subsequent bronze medal match, the experienced Firinovic and Oganauskiene came out as losers against Kuivonen and Jürgenson. Although the Estonians received the bronze medals after settling the match in two sets, the Lithuanians did not give anything away – the first set ended with the score of 22-20, and the second 27-25, and the match lasted for as long as 47 minutes.
 
The victory of the tournament belonged to Lithuania’s Ariana Rudkovskaja and Skalve Krizanauskaite, who defeated Ukrainian duo Serdiuk/Romaniuk in the final by 21-17, 21-19. 

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