In Wednesday’s first game, the Latvians, seeded third in the tournament, defeated the hosts Brecht Piersma and Wies Backhaus (19th) 2-0 (25:23, 21:18).
The first set was an even battle, with neither team able to gain more than a two-point advantage. At the end of the set, the Latvians played more successfully, as they did not use the first two set balls, then played one set ball and celebrated the victory with 25:23.
The second set also started similarly, but then Graudiņa/Samoilova managed to reach 8:5 from 4:4. In the continuation, the Latvians were able to take the lead with 16:11, in the end celebrating the victory with 21:18.
Tonight, at 20:00, in the final match of subgroup C, Graudinė/Samoilova will meet the Polish pair Jagoda Slivka/Aleksandra Vahoviča (14th), who also achieved their second victory, with 2-1 (12:21, 21:15, 15:13) beating the French pair of Lesanne Plasset/Alexis Richard (30th)
It has already been reported that in the first match on Tuesday, the Latvian pair defeated the French Plaseta/Rišāra with 2-1 (21:18, 19:21, 15:13) and the Polish pair with 2-1 (20:22, 21:17, 15:12 ) defeated Piersma and Backhaus.
Latvian duet Mārtiņš Pļaviņš/Kristians Fokerots will also start the men’s tournament competition today.
Pļaviņš/Fokerots, who are seeded with number 25, will meet the eighth pair from Germany, Sven Winters/Lukas Pfrecšners, in Arnhem at 15:00 Latvian time.
On Thursday, the Latvians will have to meet with the Austrian duo Timo Hammarbergs/Filips Wallers and the Swiss pair Florian Breer (24th).
Graudiņa and Samoilova won the European Championship in 2019 and 2022, but last year in Vienna they reached the round of 16.
Three-time participant of the Olympic Games and bronze laureate of the London Games in a pair with Jānis Šmēdiņas Pļaviņas, the highest place in the European championships in a pair with Šmēdiņas is the bronze medals won in Berlin in 2010.
Fokerot is a rookie at this level of competition.
In the previous championship, Latvia was not represented in the men’s tournament.
In the European Championship, 32 duets are divided into eight groups. The winners of the groups will qualify for the round of 16, the winners of the second and third places – for the round of 16, but the championship will be over for the beach volleyball players who took the last place in the group.
The European beach volleyball championship will take place in the Dutch cities of The Hague, Arnhem and Apeldoorn until August 18.
2024-08-16 16:37:50