Germans Büthe-Grossner and Walkenhorst-Windscheif stood atop the U23 European Beach Volleyball Championships podium as they captured the men’s and women’s gold medal here in Yantarniy Beach, Russia, late Sunday afternoon in front of more than 1,500 excited spectators. German Borger-Sude as well as Köhler-Rohde claimed bronze.
CEV Vice President Jan Hronek as well as Mr. Vladimir Patkin, General Secretary of the Russian Volleyball Federation and CEV Board of Administration member, saw a breathtaking first set in the women’s gold medal match today in Yantarniy Beach, Russia, as both ladies teams Büthe-Grossner from Germany as well as first-seeded Czech Kolokova-Slukova were ready to battle bravely for their first U23 gold medal. When Germans defense specialist Julia Grossner grabed another Czech hammer, Büthe-Grossner already led 19-16. Some moments later, the young Germans finished the first set 21-18 with another well-timed combination.
In the second set, the scoreboard advanced again quite slowly, as both teams proved strong mental power. Kristyna Kolokova brought up set point for the Czechs, and when Grossner’s line shot was some centimeters too long, the high-level gold medal duel went into tie-break.
The Germans led 4-1, and then 8-5, forcing the Czech ladies calling their time-out. But it was already too late. The Büthe-Grossner express was unstoppable now. Büthe brought up match point at 14-12 with a powerful smash, before Grossner ended it two rallies later with a clever diagonal shot, bouncing the German duo into their golden heaven.
“I can’t realize it”, said a very joyful Britta Büthe minutes after the match. “The Czech team was favorite; but suddenly we saw our chance for gold. Julia was doing a perfect job in defense, so I felt just happy and enjoyed playing. Let’s party now, we still have some energy left”, smiled Büthe.
The men’s final encounter faced hosts Yutvalin-Kostyukhin and German Walkenhorst-Windscheif. Even when the Russians played in front of more than 1,500 thrilled fans, German Alexander Walkenhorst und Stefan Windscheif set the pace in the Men’s CEV U23 European Beach Volleyball final match, closing out the first set 21-10 (!).
Things remained stable in the second set as the Germans proved too strong for the Russian duo. However, the hosts fought courageously, trailing 13-16 in the middle of set 2. German Walkenhorst blocked as a champion, whilst his partner managed the defense. Windscheif brought up match point at 20-14 with a hammer through the middle, and ended it only moments later with a smart block-out, 21-14, securing the fourth German medal at the 2009 U23 European Beach Volleyball championships.
“We felt confidently before today’s gold medal match”, said Alexander Walkenhorst. “We didn’t play our best volleyball the first two days, but found our rhythm yesterday afternoon. Furthermore, our strategy worked as planned today, that’s awesome.”
Karla Borger and Julia Sude claimed bronze with a convincing victory over Polish Katarzyna Urban and Joanna Wiatr (24-22, 21-15). After a very balanced first set (24-22), the young German talents used their physical superiority to secure their well-deserved bronze medals. “We had a very hard task yesterday with three tough games in the loser’s bracket”, said Karla Borger after the bronze medal duel. “Nevertheless, we felt ready today. We varied our serves what the Polish didn’t like. We are happy.”
In the men’s bronze medal clash, Stefan Köhler blocked for a 22-20 win in the second set, leveling the game 1-1 against Polish Kadziola-Szalankiewicz. The Germans kept their nerves in the decider, leading 9-6, 13-10, and 14-11. Another Köhler block closed it out at 15-11 with Köhler/Rohde claiming the second bronze medal for the German delegation. “The bronze medal match reflected our whole tournament with many ups and downs”, explained Nils Rohde. “We felt tired after four long days, but our mental power finally made the difference today. What a great experience!”
Earlier in the day, Kolocova-Slukova as well as Büthe-Grossner proved too strong for their opponents in the women’s semi-finals. Kolocova-Slukova knocked out Borger-Sude in straight sets, whilst Büthe-Grossner overpowered Polish Urban-Wiatr in tie-break 15-13. In the men’s tournament, Walkenhorst-Windscheif (21-8, 21-17 against Kadziola-Szalankiewicz) as well as Yutvalin-Kostyukhin (21-20, 21-15 versus Köhler-Rohde) got the ticket to the prestigious final match of the U23 European Championships with very solid play.
The 2009 U23 European Beach Volleyball Championships in Yantarniy turned out to be a major success. More than 3,500 fans enjoyed the matches in Yantarniy Beach at the Baltic Sea. Fans and journalists from all over Europe were present with the matches being broadcasted live on TV. “We saw a very nice tournament on a wonderful venue”, said CEV Technical Supervisor Henrique Gomes. “The organization as well as the player’s level were excellent.”
Yantarmiy Beach is located in the region of Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast. Kaliningrad Oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union it has been an exclave of the Russian Federation surrounded by Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea. Borderless travel to the main part of Russia is only possible by sea or air.
CEV Vice President Jan Hronek as well as Mr. Vladimir Patkin, General Secretary of the Russian Volleyball Federation and CEV Board of Administration member, saw a breathtaking first set in the women’s gold medal match today in Yantarniy Beach, Russia, as both ladies teams Büthe-Grossner from Germany as well as first-seeded Czech Kolokova-Slukova were ready to battle bravely for their first U23 gold medal. When Germans defense specialist Julia Grossner grabed another Czech hammer, Büthe-Grossner already led 19-16. Some moments later, the young Germans finished the first set 21-18 with another well-timed combination.
In the second set, the scoreboard advanced again quite slowly, as both teams proved strong mental power. Kristyna Kolokova brought up set point for the Czechs, and when Grossner’s line shot was some centimeters too long, the high-level gold medal duel went into tie-break.
The Germans led 4-1, and then 8-5, forcing the Czech ladies calling their time-out. But it was already too late. The Büthe-Grossner express was unstoppable now. Büthe brought up match point at 14-12 with a powerful smash, before Grossner ended it two rallies later with a clever diagonal shot, bouncing the German duo into their golden heaven.
“I can’t realize it”, said a very joyful Britta Büthe minutes after the match. “The Czech team was favorite; but suddenly we saw our chance for gold. Julia was doing a perfect job in defense, so I felt just happy and enjoyed playing. Let’s party now, we still have some energy left”, smiled Büthe.
The men’s final encounter faced hosts Yutvalin-Kostyukhin and German Walkenhorst-Windscheif. Even when the Russians played in front of more than 1,500 thrilled fans, German Alexander Walkenhorst und Stefan Windscheif set the pace in the Men’s CEV U23 European Beach Volleyball final match, closing out the first set 21-10 (!).
Things remained stable in the second set as the Germans proved too strong for the Russian duo. However, the hosts fought courageously, trailing 13-16 in the middle of set 2. German Walkenhorst blocked as a champion, whilst his partner managed the defense. Windscheif brought up match point at 20-14 with a hammer through the middle, and ended it only moments later with a smart block-out, 21-14, securing the fourth German medal at the 2009 U23 European Beach Volleyball championships.
“We felt confidently before today’s gold medal match”, said Alexander Walkenhorst. “We didn’t play our best volleyball the first two days, but found our rhythm yesterday afternoon. Furthermore, our strategy worked as planned today, that’s awesome.”
Karla Borger and Julia Sude claimed bronze with a convincing victory over Polish Katarzyna Urban and Joanna Wiatr (24-22, 21-15). After a very balanced first set (24-22), the young German talents used their physical superiority to secure their well-deserved bronze medals. “We had a very hard task yesterday with three tough games in the loser’s bracket”, said Karla Borger after the bronze medal duel. “Nevertheless, we felt ready today. We varied our serves what the Polish didn’t like. We are happy.”
In the men’s bronze medal clash, Stefan Köhler blocked for a 22-20 win in the second set, leveling the game 1-1 against Polish Kadziola-Szalankiewicz. The Germans kept their nerves in the decider, leading 9-6, 13-10, and 14-11. Another Köhler block closed it out at 15-11 with Köhler/Rohde claiming the second bronze medal for the German delegation. “The bronze medal match reflected our whole tournament with many ups and downs”, explained Nils Rohde. “We felt tired after four long days, but our mental power finally made the difference today. What a great experience!”
Earlier in the day, Kolocova-Slukova as well as Büthe-Grossner proved too strong for their opponents in the women’s semi-finals. Kolocova-Slukova knocked out Borger-Sude in straight sets, whilst Büthe-Grossner overpowered Polish Urban-Wiatr in tie-break 15-13. In the men’s tournament, Walkenhorst-Windscheif (21-8, 21-17 against Kadziola-Szalankiewicz) as well as Yutvalin-Kostyukhin (21-20, 21-15 versus Köhler-Rohde) got the ticket to the prestigious final match of the U23 European Championships with very solid play.
The 2009 U23 European Beach Volleyball Championships in Yantarniy turned out to be a major success. More than 3,500 fans enjoyed the matches in Yantarniy Beach at the Baltic Sea. Fans and journalists from all over Europe were present with the matches being broadcasted live on TV. “We saw a very nice tournament on a wonderful venue”, said CEV Technical Supervisor Henrique Gomes. “The organization as well as the player’s level were excellent.”
Yantarmiy Beach is located in the region of Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast. Kaliningrad Oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union it has been an exclave of the Russian Federation surrounded by Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea. Borderless travel to the main part of Russia is only possible by sea or air.
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