Teams from Norway and Greece qualify for #EuroBeachVolleyU20 Main Draw

After playing host to last year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18 and #EuroBeachVolleyU22 as well as to one of three events scheduled for Phase 2 of the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup earlier this year, international competition has returned to Izmir with #EuroBeachVolleyU20. The event started on Wednesday with the men’s qualification round setting the tone for another four days of action featuring the rising stars of European Beach Volleyball.

Triantafylloss Restemis and Aristeidis Chandrinos of Greece enjoyed a very promising start to the tournament as they recorded three wins in a row. They first beat Kosovo’s underdogs Ermal Maliqi and Erion Bajrami 2-0 (21-13, 21-10), before shutting out Sergiu Plamadeala/Dmitri Romanov of Moldova 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) and edging Finland’s Sebastian Bozo Hernandez/Ville Kattelus 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-13) in 55 minutes to qualify for the Main Draw.

Markus Mol/Jo Gladsøy Sunde of Norway needed two sets only to beat Sebastian Bozo Hernandez/Ville Kattelus (23-21, 21-13) before cruising to a double 21-18 set win against Plamadeala and Romanov to secure their spot in the Main Draw as well. Markus Mol is the younger brother of three-time ‘senior’ European champion Anders Mol, who is among the favourites to claim gold at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

The 2021 edition of #EuroBeachVolleyU20 will continue on Thursday with the pool stage matches and Turkish fans will have the opportunity to watch the defending champions Anete Namike and Varvara Brailko of Latvia, who won women’s gold last year in Brno, as well as Russia’s prodigy Mariia Bocharova with new partner Elizaveta Gubina.

“We just started playing Beach Volleyball this summer. We are a new team but we have been preparing well for this tournament. We played at a stop of the Turkish Championship last week. We are very excited but have no expectations. It will be a great experience for us,” says young Turkish player Irmak Gökcen – who represents the much-decorated Eczacibasi Sports Club and will be playing in Izmir together with Ece Özdemir.