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Beach volleyball 26/07/2014

U21 World Championships in Larnaka down to last eight

Larnaka,
Cyprus, July 26, 2014 - The FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships
in Larnaka are down to the last eight. Among the quarterfinalists are last
year’s champions Katharzyna Kociolek and Jagoda Gruszczynska from Poland,
Norway’s lucky losers Runar Sannarnes and Mathias Berntsen and dark horses
Maxime Thiercy and Romain Di Giantommaso from France.

Key points

·       Russia is
the biggest supplier, with two teams in the men’s quarterfinals and one in the
women’s.

·       Norway has
two teams in the men’s last eight, Poland has one in the men’s and one in the
women’s.

·       Men’s
line-up: Bryl/Kujawiak (POL) – Wickler/Schneider (GER), Sannarnes/Berntsen
(NOR) – Thiercy/Di Giantommaso (FRA), Yarzutkin/Stoyanovskiy (RUS) –
Leshukov/Margiev (RUS), Sorum/Mol (NOR) – Andre/Vinicius (BRA).

·       Women’s
line-up: Hughes/Claes (USA) – Dabizha/Gorbunova (RUS), Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte
(LTU) – Sulima/Udovenko (UKR), Strauss/Strauss (AUT) – Betschart/Eiholzer
(SUI), Kociolek/Gruszscynska (POL) – Bukovic/Miric (CAN).

·       In the
first 13 years of the U21 World Championships Brazil has garnered the most
final four placements, most medals and most gold medals in both genders.

Poland’s Bryl/Kujawiak cruise into last eight at the
U21 with straight wins only

Michal Bryl and Kacper Kujawiak cruised their way into the
quarterfinals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships on Saturday.
The Polish youngsters are hitting top form this week and have not lost a set
yet.

Bryl and Kujawiak claimed top position in their pool already on Friday after
four matches and won their final pool match on Saturday 2-0 (21-11, 21-12)
against USA’s Clemens/Bantle. In the second elimination round they also
overpowered Arnas Rumsevicius and Lukas Kazdailis from Lithuania (21-12, 21-12)
with solid block-defence and aggressive play. Read
more

Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte upset Brazil to make the
last eight in Larnaka

eva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte eliminated U19 world
champions Eduarda Santos Lisboa and Taina Silva Bigi on Saturday to reach the
quarterfinals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships.

The Lithuanian girls defeated the strong Brazilian pair 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) in
the second knockout round. In the morning Dumbauskaite and Povilaityte had
topped the pool with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) win over Russia and thereby earned a
bye in the first round. Read
more

Austrian twins defeat U19 champions to top the pool
in Larnaka

In a match for top position in pool D Austrian twins Teresa
and Nadine Strauss defeated U19 world champions Eduarda Santos Lisboa and Taina
Silva Bigi 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) on Saturday at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U1 World
Championships.

In a very close first set the Brazilians had the opportunity to claim it
thrice, but the Strauss-sisters came back to win 23-21. In the second set
Austria was trailing by four points, but levelled at 17-17 and moved on to
claim top position in the pool at their second match point. Read
more

Lucky losers from Norway end up pool winners at the
U21

Norway’s Runar Torsvik Sannarnes and Mathias Berntsen topped
their pool on Saturday at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships in
Larnaka by defeating rivals Viktor Pestov and Kirill Gurin from Kazakhstan 2-0
(21-13, 21-13).

It was a bit unexpected since only two days ago the Norwegians were eliminated
in the qualification tournament. But they were given a second chance as they
advanced to the main draw as one of three lucky losers. Read
more

The final day of the U21 World
Championships starts with the men’s quarterfinals at 10.00, followed by the
women’s at 11.00. The semifinals are all centre court matches, starting at
14.30. The bronze medal matches (18.00 and 19.00) and the finals (20.30 and
21.30) are all scheduled for the evening.

The U21 World Championships are
the second age group event held in Larnaka. The Cypriot resort hosted the U19
in 2012. Next week Porto will host the fourth and final FIVB age group
tournament of the 2014 season, the U19 World Championships.

In August the younger teams will
travel to Nanjing, China, where the Youth Olympic Games will be held. The event
will feature beach volleyball for the first time.

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