U 18 Beach Volleyball Championship starts today in Brno, Czech Republic – Volleyball News
The 2012 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship is set to be kicked off in Brno, Czech Republic on Thursday, July 5.
The event will feature both men’s and women’s matches. The aspiring European beach volleyball athletes have an excellent opportunity to showcase their skills on the sand. The local organisers of the tournament have set up four courts at the Sokolske Koupaliste
in Czech city of Brno. The men’s and women’s competitions will run parallel and the winners on both sides will catch the spotlight on Sunday, July 8.
In the men’s division, a total of 24 duos will contest their skills, whereas 24 female tandems will compete in the women’s tournament. Both tournaments will follow the same steps. The competition will be opened with pool-play matches. Three rounds of matches
will be played in the pool-play. Successful teams of the opening round will advance to the Main Draw stage, which will progress with double-elimination bracket. The competition will be closed with the final four matches on Sunday, July 8.
The pairings of Michal Hadrava-Ondrej Benes and Donovan Dzavoronok-Martin Licek will represent the hosts Czech Republic in the men’s tournament.
Speaking of the home campaign, Hadrava stated: “Today I had a training session there at the venue and I felt like I finally got in the right shape. I hope this good feeling will accompany me also throughout the next days. We do not feel that much pressure,
but I think it will come right by the moment we take on our first match”.
His teammate Benes also expressed the similar feelings. The Czech duo will be challenged by tandems from Poland and Russia, in the opening round of the tournament. Russians and Poles are the pre-favourites of the competition and it will surely be a daunting
task for home duo to overcome the strong rivals.
Nonetheless, Hadrava and Benes stated: “We hope to make it to the top ten in the end. Anything better would be just a surplus and a nice surprise of course.”
In the women’s section, Hana Tresnáková - Barobora Pilátová and Katerina Valkova -Jana Forejtova will try to fight for the Czech legacy.
The home duos will certainly enjoy the competitive advantage of playing in front of their supporters. However, hard-work will be the key to success for any team in the competition.
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