In Daugavpils, Stankevičs/Rinkevičs and Liepājniece/Ozoliņa celebrate their victories in the beach volleyball stage / Article

The stage ended with the men’s gold fight, where Rudolfs Stankevičs/Artūrs Rinkevičs won 2-1 (21:18, 19:21, 15:11) over Markus Graudiņa/Oliver Bulgača. Stankevich/Rinkevich quickly took the lead at the beginning of the first set and held the advantage until the end of the set, winning 21:18. In the second set, it went to the very end. 21:19, once again Graudiņš/Bulgac wins, and the third set was needed to determine the winners. And the decisive part of the game was also full of intrigue.

Gold final for men

The winners of the tournament expressed their joy for the victory after the game.

Interview with Stankevich/Rinkevich

Beāte Liepājniece/Anija Ozoliņa from Ventspils won the women’s competition in Daugavpils, who defeated Kristīni Briedi/Luīzi Anna Skraštinu in an exciting fight with 2-1 (21:16, 15:21, 15:13).

Women’s gold final

Liepājniece/Ozoliņa had the initiative at the beginning of the first set, and they managed to keep the advantage until the end of the set, winning with 21:16. The second set started evenly, but in the second half Briede/Skrastiņa took the lead and kept the lead until the end, winning with 21:15, equalizing the sets 1-1. In the decisive set, the intrigue remained until the end. 15:13 – Liepājniece/Ozoliņa won with this result.

Interview with the winners of the tournament

“We are also very happy,” the winners admitted to LTV after the golden final, who could not even believe their success – for the first time in their careers. The girls admitted that there are very good spectators in Daugavpils – even though they don’t know anyone, it seems that the support was exactly for them.

Men’s Bronze Final

Bronze medals in the men’s competition were won by Sandris Andrejevs/Toms Benjavs, who defeated Aivars Svikli/Mārtinas Zvikoras 2-0 (21:9 21:19). Andrejevs/Benjavs quickly took the lead in the first set, which did not surprise the audience, as this was Svikli/Zvikor’s debut in the bronze final. Hence also a convincing victory of the favorites with 21:9. At the beginning of the second set, Svikli/Zvikor even managed to take the lead. At 17:17, the score equalized, and the miracle did not happen – the favorites won with 21:19.

Interview with the winners of the bronze match

“There were many ups and downs,” said the winners of the bronze medal match. They played the first set well, but in the second they had to cheer both themselves and the audience.

Women’s Bronze Match

Bronze in the tournament was won by Vanesa Grosberg/Simon Rozite, who defeated Sally Gren/Liva Sol with 2-0 (21:14, 21:17). Already at the beginning of the first set, Grosberga/Rozīte took the lead, and in the first set they secured a 21:14 victory. The second set started quite evenly, but at the end of it, Grosberga/Rozīte took the lead again, winning it with 21:17.

Interview with the bronze medalists

The bronze medalists have just started playing together – only two training sessions have been held. They went to the tournament without expectations, but they managed to win a medal, the athletes admitted after the victory.

The final stage of the Latvian championship will take place in August already at the end of August.

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