Teams from Poland, Italy, Türkiye, Ukraine to battle for #EuroSnowVolleyU20 medals

Only eight teams – four women’s and four men’s – remain in contention for the medals at the U20 Snow Volleyball European Championships in Karpacz. These include four teams from Poland, two from Ukraine, and one each from Italy and Türkiye.

Even better weather and an even larger crowd of fans arrived on Saturday in Karpacz, one of the most popular resorts in the Karkonosze Mountains. From the early morning, high-stakes matches were played, determining which teams would advance from the group stage. A crucial victory was secured by Poland 1, composed of representatives from SMS Spała, as they defeated Poland 3 in a tie-break. Shortly afterwards, the players of Poland 2 (Blanka Trawińska, Małgorzata Banaś, Amelia Zagwojska, and Amelia Grzegorowska) won their first match of the tournament, thereby securing a spot in the next phase too.

In dramatic circumstances, the Poland 3 women’s team lost first place in their group, despite leading by five points in a tie-break against Moldova. As a result, they ceded the top spot to their compatriots from Poland 1. However, all Polish women’s teams advanced from the group stage, joined by Ukraine, Moldova, and Türkiye – who have yet to lose a match in Karpacz.

“The conditions are great, but the first matches were tough for us. With each game, we are getting used to it and performing better. Our preparation for this tournament was short and intense, but since half of our team has experience playing on snow, we knew how to position ourselves and organise our game. That helped us a lot,” said Zofia Preweda and Wiktoria Leśniewicz from Poland 1. Thanks to finishing the group stage as leaders, they spent the rest of Saturday watching matches from the stands, waiting to know the name of their semifinal opponents.

A few hours later, it was confirmed that they would face Ukraine. The other women’s semi-final will feature Türkiye against Poland 3, the team that eliminated Poland 2 in the quarterfinals in straight sets. “Two of us attend the same school, while the third lives three hours away from Ostróda. Training together was difficult, especially since we lost our fourth player due to injury. At first, it was tough, but with each match, we got more accustomed to the conditions. Snow Volleyball is very different from Beach Volleyball – and since we play in teams of three, there are more possibilities. We came here without pressure, without expectations, and yet, here we are in the semifinals!” said Emilia Żurawska, Maria Pietrin, and Wiktoria Surażyńska, celebrating their success this far. 

In the match for seventh place among the men, Poland 2 defeated Moldova, while in the women’s competition, the Italians overcame the Armenian team to secure seventh place.

To conclude the day, two Polish men’s teams faced Türkiye and Ukraine in the quarterfinals. Both matches delivered plenty of excitement. Poland 4 (Paweł Zatoń, Damian Dudek, Szymon Wolak, and Dominik Mućka) ultimately eliminated Türkiye, while Poland 3 (Filip Gierczyński, Piotr Konatkowski, Robert Kusik, and Tymon Hadryan) had to acknowledge the superiority of Ukraine’s first team.

In the women’s semi-finals, Poland 1 will face Ukraine, while Poland 3 will take on Türkiye. In the men’s bracket, Poland 1 will also compete against Ukraine, and Italy will play against Poland 4.

The semi-finals will take place on Sunday, March 9, at 10:10 am, followed by the bronze medal matches and the finals at 2:20 pm (women) and 3:00 pm (men).