The London 2012 Olympic Games qualification phase: Cyprus outplays Romania in the European Continental Beach Volleyball Cup
Since there is a new qualification system for beach volleyball teams to clinch a berth in London 2012 Olympics Games, the aspiring teams have been urged to participate in the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup. This campaign spans over two years, and it is
scheduled to stage competitions in five continents of the world. For ease, it has been broken down into three phases: the zone, sub-zone, and continental finals. The winners of which, will be allotted slots in London 2012 Olympic Games. There are a total of
154 nations across all five continents, which have confirmed their participation in the global Beach Volleyball event. The Continental Beach Volleyball is a great opportunity for players to play in the Olympic Games, and it has massive support of fans.
In the recent memory, the CAVB Continental Beach Volleyball Cup in Cairo, Egypt contested Africans teams and concluded amazing results. The campaign moved to Europe this weekend for the next leg. The European Continental Beach Volleyball Cup started off
on 16th September 2010 and greeted four teams of Group G for a three-day sensational beach volleyball action. The players of both genders from Cyprus, Estonia, Greece and Romania made their presence felt in the Kallipatria Sports Centre in Greek
City Rhodes on the opening day of the tournament.
In women’s section, the preliminary round matches were played on Thursday, 16th September 2010. Cyprus and Romania made their mark in the first round and emerged as qualifiers of the semi-final match on Friday. The pair from Cyprus comprised of
Manolina Constantinou/Mariota Angelopoulou, while Romanian side was represented by Andri Iordanous/Thelma Christoforou.
Semi-final (Cyprus vs. Romania) – 17th September 2010
The two teams put up a great fight and demonstrated wonderful beach game in the semi-final. Cyprus proved to be the better team and claimed victory over Romania in straight three sets.
First Set
The first was full of powerful jump-serves from both ends. Romania brought pace in the game and rapidly moved on sand to grab the ball. Likewise Cyprus’ pair displayed great action by producing sharp aces. They made good use of their arms to hit the ball
in opponents’ half. Cyprus picked up lead in the scores’ run and put pressure on the Romanian pair. The first set saw nice digging and picking of ball by Cyprus duo. They saved points and extended their lead by hitting more spikes. The Cyprian duo successfully
ended the first set with success.
Second Set
Romania was upset with the loss of first set but they followed different approach in the second set. They paid more attention to their defence line and tried to avoid ball-reception errors. It helped their score and earned them stability in the game. Nonetheless,
the tough contender Cyprus clawed back their way in the game and challenged the Romanians. The tricky bump-passes of Cyprus’ pair surprised the Romanians. Andri Iordanous of Romania was active to throw her hands in air to stop the ball but Manolina Constantinou
found ideal places to strike fleshy spikes. The score quickly went through a turbulent wave, and Cyprus took the game away from their competitors. Another set touched the finish line with Cyprian win.
Third Set
The 15-point golden set started with heavy thumping of ball from Cyprus’ side. They could sense the smell of victory and attacked vigorously. The thrill and buzz increased to an extent that fans got up from seats and cheered at the winning duo. Romania had
slowed down, as they experienced a bad blow in the first two sets. Cyprus’ team took full advantage of the situation and managed to pull off victory in third set. Cyprus won the semi-final match against Romania in straight three sets. This particular win created
a chance for them to continue their Olympic Games’ quest in the next phase.
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