Jurmala, Latvia, September 16, 2020 – Defending champions and local favourites Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina showed their growing confidence among beach volleyball’s leading teams when they topped their pool at the CEV European Championships on Wednesday.
The Latvian pair, who have already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and who have played on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour since 2017, secured top spot in their pool and a place in the second knockout round with a 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-10) win over Daria Rudkyh and Ksenia Dabizha.
Laura Ludwig kept up her pursuit of a fifth European title, and first alongside Margareta Kozuch with two wins from two, the second a 2-0 (21-12, 21-12) victory over Michaela Kubickova and Michala Kvapilova.
Their fellow Germans Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider also progressed to round two, as did Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli, and Russia’s Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina.
The three other places were taken by experienced teams who will be eyeing places at Tokyo 2020 when the World Tour returns.
Spain’s Elsa Baquerizo and Liliane Fernandez, the Netherlands’ Keizer Sanne and Madelein Meppelink, and the Czech Republic’s Marketa Slukova and Barbara Hermannova all reached the second knockout round with two wins from two.