Larnaka, Cyprus, July 24,
2014 - The first two rounds of pool play at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World
Championships in Larnaka on Thursday brought forth a major upset in the women’s
competition. Last year’s U21 champions Kociolek and Gruszscynska from Poland lost
their opening match to German qualifiers Glenzke and Schreiber.
In the men’s competition
Agathokleous and Rudenko booked the only win of the day for the Cypriot teams.
To the delight of the home crowd they defeated Nigeria’s Godwin and Shekarau 2-0 on centre court.
Key points
·
A total of
36 teams per gender are competing in the U21 main draw, playing round robin in
6 pools of 6. Only the top 4 in each pool qualifies for the elimination phase.
·
Cyprus has
two teams competing in the women’s main draw and two in the men’s.
·
Matches in
Larnaka start at 8.00 every day, with the last match is scheduled for 21.30.
·
The centre
court stadium on Finikoudes beach seats 1,500.
·
Quite a
few former beach volleyball stars travelled to Larnaka to coach: José Geraldo
Loiola, Carlos Frederico ‘Alemao’ Galetti, Jorge Barros de Araujo, Raul Mesa,
Jenny Johnson Jordan and Andrea Raffaelli.
Pressure gets to U21 title
defenders Kociolek/Gruszczynska
Everybody expects Poland’s
Katarzyna Kociolek and Jagoda Gruszscynska to win another gold medal at the
FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships. All this pressure got to them as
they lost their opening match on Thursday in Larnaka.
The 19-year old Polish girls were defeated 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) by German
qualifiers Nadja Glenzke and Lara Schreiber in the early morning. “There is a
lot of pressure”, said Kociolek. “Everyone tells us: oh, you won last year, so
you will also win this year.” Read more
Brazil’s Andre and Vinicius
take lead in tough pool at U21 World Championships
Brazil’s Andre Loyola Stein
and Vinicius Rezende Costa Freitas put their mark down with two straight wins
on the first day of main draw at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World
Championships in Larnaka.
The two 19-year olds defeated Mexico’s Jurado/Cardenas 2-0 (24-22, 21-18) in
the morning, and booked another 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) win over American qualifiers
Hagen Smith/Orenic in one of the strongest men’s pools in Larnaka. Read
more
Paraguay’s Michelle: from shy
World Champ debutant to leader in the field
In 2013 a very shy and timid
Michelle Valiente Amarilla made her debut at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World
Championships in Poland at the age of 15. Now, one year later at the U21 World
Championships in Larnaka, the Paraguayan girl transformed into a fearless
leader in the field with a vast array of shots.
Back then in Poland Michelle and her 29-year old partner were the first team to
represent Paraguay at a World Championship, they finished 37th eventually.
After the big event in Stare Jablonki Michelle started training with her own
age group. Read
more
Another two rounds of pool
play are scheduled for Friday, starting at 8.00 with the last match scheduled
at 21.30. The last round will be played on Saturday morning, followed by the
first elimination round. The second round, quarterfinals, semifinals and medal
matches for both genders are played on Sunday.
Larnaka is hosting an age
group event for the second time. Two years ago the Cypriot holiday resort
organized the FIVB U19 World Championships. Last year the U21 were hosted by
Porto. Porto will be the fourth and final stop on the FIVB age group calendar
this year with the U19 World Championships running from July 29 till August 3.