2010 SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship
The SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship 2010 produced some amazing results for the 2010 version as the experiment of organising the tournament in the city of Porto proved to be successful. 32 nations sent their beach volleyball talent in the form of 88 teams (46 women’s and 42 men’s).
The five-day, double gender beach volleyball extravaganza determined the world champions for both women and men on Sunday, 1st August 2010, on the beaches of Porto. Poland’s 18-year fifth-seeded Kantor and Bartosz Losiak marched as the successful pair of the SWATCH FIVB Youth World Men’s Championship.
The pair defeated the 24th seeded Russian team of Maxim Anufriev and Artem Kucherenko. The final match between the Polish and Russian teams was full of suspense and drama as it took many different turns at various stages.
The Russian pair heavily influenced the young Polish side in the first set and pushed them for a plain defeat in the set. Kantor and Losiak, however, returned in the game in the next two sets and got their hands on the gold medal by winning the last two sets. Consequently, Poland’s Kantor/Losiak added one more medal to their collection. They also won the under-20 European championship title in Catania, Italy, this year.
Last years’ SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship in Alanya, Turkey saw the pair finish on the ninth position. The Polish team also earned the European under-18 title in the Portuguese city of Espinho last year. Overall, they posed a great impression in every game they appeared in the recent years. After winning gold at this years’ SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship, Poland is leading the team rankings with six medals in men’s event while a combined total of eight medals. Likewise, they had eight “final four” placements in the last event and combined with the women, the number goes to a total of 13 “final four” finishes.
Kantor/Losiak remained undefeated in the championship and posted a record of 7-0 in the game. They crushed all the teams which came in their way. The Polish pair defeated teams from seven different parts of the world which included Portugal, France, Poland, Brazil, Germany, and Russia.
On the other hand, the Russian team struggled very hard and they were able to reach the “final four” phase of the championship but somehow, they could not win against Poland. Russia’s Anufriev and Kucherenko obtained silver medals for the runners up positions. The Russian men achieved a total of three medals and three “final four” appearances in the tournament. Anufriev and Kucherenko set a record of 7-2 in the championship. In addition, they also had two qualification wins.
The Russian women, Ekaterina and Karapischenko, remained head-to-head with the men as they also achieved the second highest spot in the tournament after losing the final match to American Jane Croson and Summer Ross. Russia was the only country this year which won two medals.
In the semi-final matches, Poland defeated Germany while Russia demonstrated authority over the Canadian team. So Germany and Canada played the qualifying match for the third position in the tournament.
The third-seeded Lorenz Schumann and Domink Stork of Germany descended the court with high-spirits and defeated the Canada’s 18th-seeded Nick Del Bianco and Garrett May in straight sets. Consequently, Germany locked their first bronze medal in the event.
The SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship 2010 provided the players with a great opportunity to showcase their master skills and teams from Poland, Russia, and Germany secured gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively.
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