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Latvia’s Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksāne, alongside Estonia’s duo Armin Kender/Patrik Parijõgi, have been crowned champions of the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) U18 Beach Volleyball Championships. The event took place in Cēsis and was organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation. Both victorious teams have earned their spot in this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18, scheduled for mid-September in Corigliano Rossano, Italy. The runners-up, Latvia’s Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš and Estonia’s Marta-Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimägi, also secured qualification for the European Championship.
The full podium of the event where teams from Latvia and Estonia claimed top honours.
In the women’s tournament, Mamaja and Aleksāne showed dominant form, dropping only a single set throughout the entire competition. In the semi-finals, they defeated Poland’s Emilia Skwierczynska and Aleksandra Wolny (#4) in straight sets (21-17, 21-12). The second-seeded Estonian pair, Ploomipuu and Hanimägi, faced tougher matches, dropping a set in both their quarterfinal and semi-final encounters. In the semis, they overcame Ukraine’s Kateryna Nitsenko and Viktoriia Kachyoni (#12) with a 2-1 score (21-16, 12-21, 15-12). However, in the final match, the Latvian duo delivered a convincing performance, winning 2-0 (21-13, 21-18).
“We played with confidence. We only lost one set, and even that one we should have won,” commented Aleksāne. Mamaja added, “Before the tournament, I didn’t expect us to play so convincingly or for things to go this well. I thought the final would be tougher. I’m happy with both winning the tournament and qualifying for the European Championship finals.”
“I would say I’m even happier about qualifying for the final stage of the continental tournament,” Aleksāne reiterated.
The third-place match in the women`s draw saw the Ukrainian duo Nitsenko and Kachyoni defeat the Polish pair in straight sets (21-15, 26-24) to claim the bronze medals.
The men’s final featured a clash between the top two seeded teams. Latvian favourites Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš earned their place in the final after a hard-fought semi-final victory against Ukraine’s Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan (#3), winning 2-1 (17-21, 23-21, 16-14). The second-seeded Estonian pair, Kender and Parijõgi, reached the final by defeating Poland’s Igor Gliszczyński and Alan Robak (#7) in straight sets (21-16, 21-19).
In the gold medal match, the Estonian team secured a decisive 2-0 victory (21-13, 21-14) over the home favourites. Ukraine claimed the bronze medals in the men`s event, defeating Poland 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) in the third-place playoff.
“The tournament was very well organised. It was a pleasure to compete here in Cēsis,” the Estonian champions stated. “Winning is always rewarding, but securing a spot in the U18 European Championship and gaining the opportunity to compete against Europe’s best is particularly exciting. We look forward to delivering our best performance there.”
The championship saw participation from athletes representing Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The top two teams in both the boys` and girls` tournaments successfully qualified for this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18, which is set to take place from September 11 to 15 in Corigliano Rossano, Italy.
Cēsis is also scheduled to host the next EEVZA event, the U16 Championships, on July 3-4, featuring 16 boys’ and 16 girls’ teams.
#BeachVolleyball
