The opening day of the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) U18 Beach Volleyball Championships concluded with eleven teams maintaining a perfect record, each securing two victories. This tournament, organized by the Latvian Volleyball Federation in Cēsis, also serves as the crucial first round of zonal qualification for this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18.
In the men’s competition, seven teams finished the day without a loss. The top-seeded Latvian home team of Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš achieved two wins in Pool A. In Pool B, Estonia’s Armin Kender and Patrik Parijõgi (#2) were victorious in both their matches, including a walkover win. Polish pair Igor Gliszczyński and Alan Robak (#7) also ended day one undefeated in the same pool. Pool C saw Azerbaijan`s Ibrahim Mammadov and Muhammad Aslanli (#3) and Ukraine’s Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan (#6) maintain perfect records. Finally, the Lithuanian team of Tomas Poplavskij and Danielius Sumeika (#4) secured two wins in Pool D.
Among the women, four teams remained unbeaten. Top seeds Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksāne from Latvia claimed two wins in Pool A, including a hard-fought three-set victory (25-27, 21-13, 15-4) against the second-seeded Estonian duo Marta-Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimägi. Lithuania’s Meja Gurciutė and Beatrice Michalkevičiūtė (#6) also completed the day undefeated and were the only team to beat Latvia’s Denēva Šauberga and Marija Dārta Jaundžeikare (311). Ukrainian players Kateryna Nitsenko and Viktoriia Kachyoni also notched up two victories.
The second day of the tournament is set to feature the final group stage matches followed by the first two rounds of the elimination phase. Teams winning their groups will bypass the initial playoff rounds and advance directly to the quarterfinals, while those finishing second and third will compete in the first round of playoffs.
Teams from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine are participating, competing for medals and crucial spots in the final round of the U18 European Beach Volleyball Championships. The top two teams in both the men`s and women`s categories will earn their qualification tickets to the main event, scheduled to be held from September 11 to 15 in Corigliano Rossano, Italy.
Following this event, Cēsis will also host the EEVZA U16 Championships on July 3-4, featuring 16 teams in each gender category.
Gideon Holt 
Torin Vale