Four Latvian duos, who were sown with lower numbers in the European beach volleyball championship in Jūrmala and Mārupe, suffered losses in the second game of the group tournament on Friday, as a result of which they could not reach the playoffs.
The 31st issue of the competition Arnis Reliņš / Ardis Bedrītis in the second duel of group B with 2-1 (15:21, 21:16, 12:15) gave way to the French Kinsija E and Arno Gotjē-Ra, who were posted with the 18th issue.
In the first set, the French duo quickly gained a five-point lead (7: 2), but soon rose to seven points (15: 8). At the end of the set, the Latvians reached 15:18, but were unable to equalize the result and failed with 15:21. In the second set, Reliņš / Bedrītis took the game in his hands and quickly reached 8: 2, but continued to lead with 15: 8. The victory point was scored after a precise block – 21:16.
Meanwhile, Mārcis Jirgensons and Rinalds Aišpurs (27.) in group F conceded 0-2 (23:25, 20:22) to the Germans Philip Bergman and Lukas Pfrecšner (22nd).
The two duos performed similarly in the first part of the set, initially reaching 5: 5, but later also 9: 9. The fierce battle continued until the end of the set, where the Germans were more skilled at the end – 25:23. Also in the second set, the Latvians did not allow their opponents to win easily, as a result of which the Germans had to win 22 points to overcome the tough Latvian bar.
In another game in the first field, Mikhail Samoyilov and Alexander Solovej (30th) in the second game of group C with 1-2 (21:16, 19:21, 14:16) gave way to the Polish duo Mikhail Bril / Mikolay Mishchuk (19th).
After winning the first set, the Latvians were not far from succeeding in the game, but in the middle of the second set they fired their opponents three points away (11:14), which in the end played a significant role in reaching the playoffs. The Poles won the second set with 21:19, but at the end of the third set the result was a draw 14:14. The Austrians won their 15th point themselves, but M.Samoilov gave the next point, which was also the winner, to the opponents by hitting the ball in the net.
Finally, in the second duel of group H with the number 24, Matīss Gabdulļins / Artūrs Rinkevičs lost the competition for the number 25 from Switzerland Marko Kratigers / Florians Brēers with 0-2 (14:21, 13:21). The duo won the King of the Court competition a week ago in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
In the middle of the first set, the scoreboard announced a draw of 10:10, but then the Swiss scored five points in a row (15:10), which in turn led to a sure success with 21:14. In the second set, the Swiss gained the lead faster, reaching 10: 5, but then the difference in points increased to +8 (19:11), as a result of which Kratigers / Beerers easily reached the first round of the playoffs.
On the eve of the competition, Gabdullins failed to take the Covid-19 test in time, so on Wednesday the duo was not allowed into the first group game, in which Latvians lost 0-2 (0:21, 0:21) to European former champions Pablo Erer and Adrian Gavir (9th). .
All four Latvian duos mentioned above ranked in the last, fourth position in their subgroups, finishing the tournament in 25th place.
It has already been reported that Mārtiņš Pļaviņš / Edgars Točs defeated the Austrian veterans Aleksandrs Horsts / Klemens Dopplers, who were awarded the number 20, 2-0 (22:20, 21:16). The Latvians celebrated their victory in Group D and reached the second round of the playoffs, because they are free from the first.
Jānis Šmēdiņš / Aleksandrs Samoilovs, who finished 16th, lost 0-2 (14:21, 12:21) to the tournament favorites from Norway Anneš Mūls and Kristian Sērums in the second group A game with 0-2 (14:21, 12:21). The Latvians won the second place in group A and the competition continues in the first round of the playoffs.
After the unfavorable weather conditions in Jūrmala on Thursday, on Friday, the athletes will fight in four squares of the Ruukki Beach Center in Mārupe without the presence of fans, in order to resume fights in Jūrmala on Saturday and Sunday.
The schedule of the competition has changed slightly. The men will play the second round of the group tournament, as well as the first round of the playoffs, on Friday, while the women will find out the winners in the first two rounds of the play-off.
At 12 o’clock, the elimination matches are scheduled to start for women.
Of the four Latvian duos, only one remains in the ranks – European champions Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasijs Kravčenoka (5th), who will start the fight as the winners of the group in the second round of the playoffs, finishing their fight on the first field at 17.10.
Their opponents will be determined in a game where Italians Marta Menegati and Victoria Orsi Tota (11th) will meet with Russian athletes Maria Bocharov and Maria Voronin (19th).
This year, each team is playing only two games in a group tournament. The winners of the first game determine the winner in the group, who immediately enters the second round of the playoffs, and the losers – in the continuation of the “excess” team competition.
The European Beach Volleyball Championship in Jūrmala takes place from September 15 to 20. The tournament for 32 pairs of men and women brings together the best European men’s beach volleyball duets from 15 countries and women’s pairs from 13 countries.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament is eligible for one of the strongest tournaments of the season in terms of status in the world.
The main contenders for the women’s tournament are the Swiss – Tanja Hübler / Nina Becart and Joan Heidrich / Anuka Verge-Depré, the Olympic champion Laura Ludviga from Germany, who plays with Margaret Kozuh, and Sanne Kaizere and Madeleine Mepelinka from the Netherlands Hermanova. The current champions are Graudiņa with Kravčenok.
In the men’s competition, the title is defended by the world-leading leaders from Moscow, Annešs Mūls and Kristians Serums, who won in Moscow. World champions from Russia Vyacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovsky want to win, world vice-champions from Germany Julius Tole and Clemens Wickler, world champions – Dutch duo Alexander Brower / Robert Erzwo Adrian Gavira, as well as other powerful foreign duos.
Although the Olympic rankings related to the Covid-19 pandemic were frozen on March 16 this year, the European Championship has traditionally been one of the tournaments in which teams compete for Olympic ranking points.
Volleyball players also compete for a total prize pool of 200,000 euros.
The decision to organize the competition in Latvia was made by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) At the Board meeting of 7 July 2020.
In the previous European Championship in Jūrmala in 2017, Jānis Šmēdiņš and Aleksandrs Samoilovs became vice-champions. In August 2017, Šmēdiņš with Samoilov reached the final, where he lost to the Italians Daniel Lupo and Paolo Nikola, but at that time Graudiņa and Kravčenoka, as well as Mārtiņš Pļaviņš with Harald Regza, won the surprisingly high fifth place.
This year, the competitions of the World Tour stage were to take place in Jūrmala, but this tournament was postponed to the next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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