Drawing of Lots sets tone for highly anticipated EuroBeachVolley 2020
Recap
Jurmala, Latvia, August 26, 2020. The pool stage of the CEV EuroBeachVolley 2020 will provide fans with plenty of exciting fixtures following the Drawing of Lots held earlier this morning in Jurmala, the Latvian seaside resort due to play host to the continental showdown from September 15 to 20, 2020. Two-time defending champions Anders Mol and Christian Sandlie Sørum of Norway and home heroes, former EuroBeachVolley gold medal winners Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins feature in the men’s Pool A – in a potential clash involving the past, present and future of elite Beach Volleyball.
Speaking of former European champions, three-time EuroBeachVolley winners Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo of Italy will return to Jurmala, where they claimed their last continental crown in 2017, to play teams from Germany and Belarus in Pool E – as well Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson, who this past weekend secured the silver medal at the Baden Open in Austria.
Reigning world champions Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy will start their quest for their first EuroBeachVolley medal as a team (Krasilnikov won silver in 2016 with Konstantin Semenov) in a group featuring the in-form Polish team Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak, who recently ruled at the third stop of the German Tour in Hamburg.
Last year’s silver medal winners Konstantin Semenov/Ilya Leshukov of Russia will play another side carrying the Latvian hopes of home glory, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Martins Plavins and partner Edgars Tocs in Pool D.
The women’s competition will be just as exciting right from the pool stage, with top-seeded Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart of Switzerland, winners of the Baden Open only a few days ago, drawn along with 2019 EuroBeachVolley silver medallists Kinga Wojtasik and Katarzyna Kociolek of Poland in Pool A.
Moreover, Beach Volleyball fans can look forward to a must-watch clash between Czechs Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova and Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth in Pool B.
Pool C features the runners-up and bronze medal winners of the Baden Open, Joana Heidrich/Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland and Germany’s Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider.
However, all eyes of the Latvian fans will obviously be on Pool E where defending champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka will begin their campaign against opponents from Austria, Russia, and Finland. The Latvian golden girls attended Wednesday’s DOL in Jurmala, sharing memories from their sensational success in Moscow last year. Three years ago, competing as the reigning U22 European champions, they achieved a truly respectable fifth place on home sand – but this time they will be vying for much more than that!
The event in Jurmala is the only major Beach Volleyball competition due to take place in a season heavily disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. With very strict hygiene and health protocols in place, the tournament will bring back the excitement of high-level sport combined with all necessary measures to protect the health and well-being of everyone associated with the event.