Ohana and Elazar excited to bring Israel to the #EuroBeachVolley
News
As many as 41 players will be making their #EuroBeachVolley debuts in this year’s edition of the tournament, which will be part of the European Championships Munich, but it’s fair to say that the first-time appearance of Israelis Netanel Ohana and Eylon Elazar carries more weight than any other.
From August 15-21, the 29-year-old Ohana and the 21-year-old Elazar will become the first people in their country to compete in the event and their participation in this year’s #EuroBeachVolley will mark an important milestone in the development of beach volleyball in their nation.
Netanel Ohana“At the beginning of the season we felt very confident and highlighted qualifying for the #EuroBeachVolley as one of our goals. We’re excited to play in such a prestigious event for the first time and we believe this experience will validate our feeling that we can play at a very high level. We’re proud of being pioneers in our country and we hope to become familiar faces in big events in the future.”
Israeli Beach Volleyball Player
Qualifying for this year’s #EuroBeachVolley might be the biggest achievement of the two, but it’s certainly not the first. Last year, in just their second international event as partners, Ohana and Elazar became the first Israeli players to win a medal at the FIVB World Tour, taking bronze in a one-star event in Budapest, Hungary.
The international event was remodeled as the Beach Pro Tour in 2022, but the success of the Israelis continued. Between May and July, Ohana and Elazar won medals in three consecutive Futures tournaments around Europe, claiming bronze in Cervia, Italy, and silver in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Ios, Greece.
The fact that they qualified their country for the #EuroBeachVolley for the first time with less than an entire season as partners may lead to the idea that the two had immediate success, but that’s not exactly the case. Not at least for Ohana, who has been competing internationally since 2013 and, after nearly a decade of a lot of effort and very little success, is finally starting to achieve the glory he dreamed about.
Netanel Ohana“I just kept believing in myself, I always thought I had the ball control and the physicality to play at a high level. It was just a matter of finding the right partner. Eylon and I have good chemistry on the court and are also friends, which helped us develop great communication. We see ourselves as two good volleyball players that complement each other’s game well. We believe that we are still finding our team’s identity and that we’re just scratching the surface of our capabilities.”
Israeli Beach Volleyball Player
According to the Israelis, their achievements over the last year have generated little repercussion outside the beach volleyball community in their country. Ohana and Elazar will have a much larger platform to showcase their game and their success at the #EuroBeachVolley, but their main goal for the event is just to continue moving forward.
Netanel Ohana“We definitely don’t enter the event with a specific result in mind, we just want to play our best game and compete against the top teams in Europe. Of course we want to win every match we play, but the main thing for us is putting our focus on developing our young team and keep seeing signs we’re going in the right direction. We really believe it’s just a matter of time until we won’t be strangers to this level anymore.”
Israeli Beach Volleyball Player
Whether they want it or not, Ohana and Elazar will have a massive opportunity to show they belong among the elite of the sport right in their first match in Munich, when they will face four-time defending #EuroBeachVolley champions and reigning Olympic and world champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway.
Netanel Ohana“Playing in the Futures events gave us a lot of experience and allowed us to face top teams, some of which will be at the #EuroBeachVolley. We feel we’re ready to take another step forward and start competing at these bigger events. To start against the Olympic and world champions, we couldn’t have a better welcome, we’re looking forward to it.”
Israeli Beach Volleyball Player
The duel between Israelis and Norwegians will be one of the highlights of the schedule for August 16, the first day of competition for the men at the Koenigsplatz. Sweden’s David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig and Norway’s Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen are the other teams in Pool A.
