The EEVZA U18 Beach Volleyball Championships in Cēsis, organised by the Latvian Volleyball Federation, concluded with Latvian pair Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksāne winning the women`s title and Estonian duo Armin Kender and Patrik Parijõgi triumphing in the men`s competition. Both winning teams have successfully qualified for the upcoming #EuroBeachVolleyU18, scheduled for mid-September in Corigliano Rossano, Italy. Qualification was also secured by the teams finishing in second place: Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš of Latvia in the men`s event, and Marta-Mia Ploomipuu and Hannemai Hanimägi of Estonia in the women`s.
The podium at the EEVZA U18 Championships, featuring medalists from Latvia and Estonia.
Women`s Tournament Recap
In the women`s tournament, Mamaja and Aleksāne displayed strong form throughout the event, dropping only a single set. Their semi-final match against Poland`s Emilia Skwierczynska and Aleksandra Wolny (seeded #4) resulted in a comfortable straight-sets victory (21-17, 21-12). The second-seeded Estonian pair, Ploomipuu and Hanimägi, faced tougher opposition, requiring three sets to defeat Ukraine`s Kateryna Nitsenko and Viktoriia Kachyoni (seeded #12) in their semi-final (21-16, 12-21, 15-12). However, the final was dominated by the Latvian duo, who secured the championship with a decisive 2-0 win (21-13, 21-18).
“We played with confidence. We only lost one set, and even that one we should have won,” said Aleksāne.
“Before the tournament, I didn’t expect us to play so convincingly or that things would go so well. I thought the final would be tougher,” added Mamaja. “I’m happy with both the tournament victory and with qualifying for the European Championship final stage.”
“I would say I’m even happier about qualifying for the final stage of the continental tournament,” Aleksāne further commented.
The women`s bronze medal match saw the Ukrainian pair, Nitsenko and Kachyoni, defeat the Polish team in straight sets (21-15, 26-24) to claim third place.
Men`s Tournament Recap
The men`s final featured a contest between the top two seeded teams. Latvian favourites Tomass Silavs and Bruno Liepiņš, the top seeds, earned their spot in the final after a hard-fought three-set semi-final victory over Ukraine`s Yehor Skrypnychenko and Andrii Lunkan (seeded #3), with scores of 17-21, 23-21, 16-14. On the other side of the bracket, Estonia`s Armin Kender and Patrik Parijõgi (seeded #2) reached the final by defeating Poland`s Igor Gliszczyński and Alan Robak (seeded #7) in straight sets (21-16, 21-19).
In the championship match, the Estonian duo Kender and Parijõgi secured the title with a convincing 2-0 victory (21-13, 21-14) over the home side. The men`s bronze medal went to Ukraine`s Skrypnychenko and Lunkan, who overcame the Polish team 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) in the third-place playoff.
“The tournament was well organised. It was a pleasure to compete in Cēsis,” the winning Estonian players remarked. “Winning is always rewarding, but earning a place in the U18 European Championship and the opportunity to play against Europe’s best is especially exciting. We hope to deliver our best performance there.”
The championship featured athletes representing Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The top two teams in both the boys` and girls` competitions successfully qualified for this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18, which is scheduled to take place from September 11 to 15 in Corigliano Rossano, Italy.
Looking ahead, Cēsis is set to host the next EEVZA event soon: the U16 Championships on July 3-4, which will feature 16 teams each in the boys` and girls` categories.
Gideon Holt