Beach Volleyball: CEV Challenger championship 2010, Novi Sad
After the successful tour in Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Switzerland, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) reached the beaches of Novi Sad, Serbia for the annual CEV Men’s Challenger Championship 2010. This is the consecutive second year that CEV organised the Challenger Tournament in the city of Novi Sad. Last year’s attractive and striking set-up at the Strand beach in Novi Sad made it easy for selectors to choose Novi Sad for another year.
The tournament started on 21st of July and involved 32 teams which kept the fans fully entertained for five days. The city of Novi Sad has a wonderful sporting spirit and attracted beach volleyball fans from all over the world.
The event was also covered by the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) which is basically a complete network of broadcasts. RTS telecasts a range of news, drama, and sports through radio, television and also internet. The live coverage of the CEV Challenger Tournament by RTS increased the excitement among fans.
The Latvian players Toms Smedins and Artis Caics were the happiest men of the tournament as they were able to climb to the top-spot. The outstanding pair repeated the great tradition of winning on the sands of Novi Sad. They exhibited a great game and defended the title. In the final match, Toms and Caics came face to face with Pajenk and Zemljak of Slovenia and dominated the other side with their exceptional game-skills. Smedins/Caics remained successful and won the final fight. The German pair Kaczmarek and Schneider was able to catch the third spot.
The fabulous victory in the CEV Challenger and Satellite championship has pushed both the Latvian players to rise-up in the rankings and on the points’ scale. With this particular win, they obtained 100 points in CEV and 40 points in the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) ranking. The winning pair was also honoured with the cash prize of 1,920 Euros in addition to the gold cup and medals.
The runner-up Slovenian pair is lagging behind with 90 points in CEV and 36 Points in FIVB rankings. They were able to pocket 1’560 Euros as prize money while the Germans received 1’200 Euros and 80 CEV/ 32 FIVB points respectively.
The weather took a nasty turn and it started raining one day before the final matches. It resulted in a lower temperature and higher humidity in the air. The teams played the matches on wet sand and occasionally experienced light showers during the matches but they still exhibited a great game.
The event was full of an assortment of great competitions but the final match was the best of all which kept the spectators hooked up for the whole time. The audience supported their favourite teams and cheered at them from the stands and the VIP arena.
Both the finalist teams struggled very hard and showed an incredible set of volleyball skills. The Slovenian team was relatively young and warm-blooded. They demonstrated an implausible game and gave the Latvians a real hard-time in the start. Somehow, Smedins and Caics struck every shot with excellent power and dominated the game. The Latvian pair was able to win the first set 16:21, the second set was ruled by Slovenian players, Pajenk and Zemljak, but Smedins/Caics regained control in the third set and came out victorious in the tournament.
Despite the fact that rain messed up the last two days of the CEV Challenger tournament, it was a great event for the volleyball fans. The venue was loaded with fans in great numbers, who cheered and applauded the players during the matches. Wonderful matches, great atmosphere, good ambience, and great performances by cheerleaders totally rocked the venue and made it a memorable tournament for the players and fans.
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