Tina & Anastasija aim to show their best at EuroBeachVolley again
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Two-time European champions Tina Graudina and Anastsija Kravcenoka, who claimed the European crown in 2019 and 2022, opened the EuroBeachVolley 2024 with a hard-fought win over Placette/Richard in Arnhem (21-18, 19-21, 15-13). The Latvians, ranked currently 6th in the world ranking, are one of top seeded teams at the CEV 2024 Beach Volleyball European Championship and are considered one of the main title contenders in the Netherlands.
Tina Graudina and Anastsija Kravcenoka are one of the most decorated European women's pairs, with two EuroBeachVolley gold medals in their cabinet they are one of the favourites also in the 2024 edition. At the Olympic Games in Paris the Latvian duo was upset in the quarterfinals by eventual Olympic champions - Ana Patricia and Duda, being ranked 5th, but now they aim to show their full potential.
Tina Graudina"Our goal is to show the level of play that we've been training to play this whole year, and we are in a very good shape right now. So of course, it's hard mentally to play, because it's right after Paris, but we are still gonna show our best game"
after the opening win in Arnhem
Their first game was interrupted during the tie-break by a thunderstorm, however the experienced Latvian stayed on the right track and withstood the pressure with support from the fans gathered in the stands despite the weather conditions. "We never played really well in the Netherlands and ever went far into the tournaments here, so it would be nice to enjoy this atmosphere as long as possible. And that's also like a small goal for us, because it's very nice to play in three cities and also this small city - Arnhem - has an amazing stadium, so we will try just to enjoy it - stressed out Anastasija Kravcenoka.
On Wednesday the Latvians will play two remaining pool games - at noon they are going to face the local favourites Piersma/Bekhuis in Anrhem and later in the evening they will go to Apeldoorn where they lock horns with Polish duo Śliwka/Wachowicz. "I think we have a strong pool. The Dutch girls are so strong and they just haven't played in that many tournaments. All teams are strong, so there won't be easy games here" - concluded Tina Graudina.