Three Dutch Pairs Win Women’s Pool Titles at #EuroBeachVolley

CEV Beach Volleyball European Championships

• July 17-21, 2018
• The Netherlands
• Men’s Schedule/Results
• Women’s Schedule/Results

After two days of pool play, the women’s field is down to 24 teams, while the men are set to wrap up pool action on Thursday at the CEV European Beach Championships.

The eight women’s pool winners crowned on Wednesday were:

• Pool A: Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo (Spain)
• Pool B: Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink (Netherlands)
• Pool C: Jolien Sinnema/Laura Bloem (Netherlands)
• Pool D: Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider (Germany)
• Pool E: Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli (Switzerland)
• Pool F: Riikka Lehtonen/Niina Ahtiainen (Finland)
• Pool G: Kim Behrens/Sandra Ittlinger (Germany)
• Pool H: Joy Stubbe/Marleen van Iersel (Netherlands)

Sinnema/Bloem, Bieneck/Schneider, Betschart/Huberli, Lehtonen/Ahtianen and Stubbe/van Iersel all went 3-0 to win their respective pools. The remaining three pool winners went 2-1.

Defending silver medalists Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova (Czech Republic) and bronze medalists Chantal Laboureur/Julie Sude (Germany) also remain in the field after finishing second (Pool F) and third (Pool A) in their respective groups.

Thursday brings the Round of 24 and Round of 16 matches for the women. The quarterfinals are set for Friday, with medals being awarded on Saturday.

On the men’s side, defending champions Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (Italy) and fellow 2017 medalists Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (Latvia) and Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (Netherlands) have had mixed results thus far.

The hometown duo of Brouwer/Meeuwsen stand atop Pool B at 2-0 after a pair of straight set wins, while Smedins/Samoilovs also are in the driver’s seat for Pool G. The Latvians, which started the tournament with a tiebreak win, will vie for the pool title on Thursday against Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl. 

Top seeded Nicolai/Lupo split their first two pool matches, winning in straight sets over Serbia’s Lazar Kolaric/Stefan Basta and falling to Swiss pair Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger in tiebreak (16-21, 21-18, 15-9).