Tight race for spots in the men's quarterfinals in the Beach Nations Cup
News
The opening day of the men's quest for the last Olympic ticket to Paris, which is at stake of the BeachVolley Nations Cup Final in Jurmala delivered exciting match-ups, including as many as five Golden Sets which determined the winners of the duels, however the situation in the pools is extremely intriguing as a lot depends on Friday's last four pool games.
The rivalry in Pool A started with the Iberian derby between Spain and Portugal. Spaniards Saucedo/Viera upset the Sousa brothers in the straight sets, but Portugal's top team Pedrosa/Campos prevailed in tie-break over the Huerta brothers and emerged victorious also from the Golden Set. However, Portugal duos couldn't find a way to stop Austrian team Moritz Pristauz/Timo Hammarberg and Philipp Waller/Christopher Dressler, who dominated in all components. On Friday Austria and Spain will lock horns in the last duel in this pool.
In Pool B, the fans at Majori Beach in Jurmala could observe a fierce battle between Lithuania and Germany. Henning/Poniewaz overcame Juchnevic/Vasiljev in tie-break, but Knasas/Stankevicious triumphed 2-0 over Pfretzschner/Winter delivering another Golden Set. Although Lithuania led in the decisive part of the game, Germany found a way to come back to win it 15-13. However, a few hours later France got their hopes for securing a spot in quarterfinals already then down as both Bassereau/Lyneel and Rotar/Gauthier-Rat clinched stunning three-seters. On Friday France and Lithuania will battle it out to sort out the final standing in this pool.
The Pool C seemed to be the group of the death in this tournament with Norway, Poland and Switzerland gathered together to fight for two spots in the quarterfinals and the results of this group proved it, as it was the only pool where two golden sets were played. Heidrich/Dillier beat Rudol/Lejawa 2-0, but a tie-break victory of Kantor/Zdybek over Krattiger/Breer extended the game into the Golden Set which was also won by Poland. Later, Rudol/Lejawa stopped Mol M./Sunde, but Markus' older brother Hendrik with Mathias Berntsen took a revenge, winning over Kantor/Zdybek in tie-break and in the Golden Set. Again the last game of the pool - here between Switzerland and Norway - will decide who will progress to the next stage.
And last but not least - Pool D! Belgian duo Hendrik/Vercauteren prevailed over Swedish Grahn/Isaksson in tie-break. But Sweden's Holting Nilsson/Andersson equalled the score winning also in tie-break with the Vandecaveye brothers. Later Belgium lost to the local favourites Bedritis/Rinkevics triumphed in tie-break over Hendrikx/Vercauteren and Latvian legend Martins Plavins who teamed up with 19-year-old Kristians Fokerots upset the Belgian brothers. On Friday Latvia will take on Sweden.
Martins Plavins/Kristians Fokerots“Glad, we won because we knew opponents were playing well and they had good results before. This is a big challenge. We ran for every defense in the first set but then calmed down a little bit, we were calmer and the third set was already going under our mark. Playing at home is a big joy and responsibility. Thank you to everyone who support us here."
All results and statistics are available HERE.