Only a couple of weeks are left before the Zonal Phase of the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup gets started in Illichivsk, the port city located nearby Odessa that already played host, this past September, to a tournament of the Sub Zonal Phase. As they try to make a step forward towards the fulfillment of their Olympic dream, players from 10 different nations will compete there to get a ticket for the final stage of the Continental Cup which is slated for next year.
Ukraine does not really shine at the moment in team sports and veritably the hosting country has real chances to qualify for the Olympics only in football and Beach Volleyball. The home guys and girls will try to make it through this Zonal Phase via the support of their many fans. Mykola Babich and Oleksandr Ioisher are regularly participating in international tournaments sanctioned by the FIVB and the CEV and recently got an additional boost of confidence by finishing third at the CEV Satellite in Baden, Austria. As they have very tough opponents like Poland and Germany for this home tournament, they will be joined by Pavlo Ostapenko and Sergiy Mykhaylov to defend the honor of the hosting country. As for the women’s competition, Svetlana Baburina and Galina Osheyko are certainly the Ukrainian best pair at this moment, but the composition of the home team is not yet confirmed.
Last year Ukraine made it through the Sub Zonal Phase in Illichivsk in a group that included very strong teams from Poland, the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Beach Volleyball complex set up close to the “Martinika” beach club turned into a very happy location for the home teams and quite evidently the organizers hope that the Ukrainian guys and girls will repeat that same performance also in some 2 and a half weeks.
In the men’s division Ukraine will open its campaign with Greece; it is a tough opponent but still the home guys hope to find their way through this first round. Germany and Sweden will be crossing their ways in the first day of action as well; Germany has not yet determined the pairs that will be competing in Illichivsk, but the country has a wide set of options even in the case the 2009 World champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann opt for leaving out this event from their schedule. And Sweden is not to be underestimated, as Hannes Brinkborg and Stefan Gunnarsson are ranked 14th by the FIVB at this moment. The winner of the clash starring Ukraine and Greece will play Estonia in the semis, while Germany or Sweden will test out the likes of Poland, actually an up-and-coming nation that will be lining up Mariusz Prudel/Grzegorz Fijalek and another very promising pair, Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz.
Ukraine does not really shine at the moment in team sports and veritably the hosting country has real chances to qualify for the Olympics only in football and Beach Volleyball. The home guys and girls will try to make it through this Zonal Phase via the support of their many fans. Mykola Babich and Oleksandr Ioisher are regularly participating in international tournaments sanctioned by the FIVB and the CEV and recently got an additional boost of confidence by finishing third at the CEV Satellite in Baden, Austria. As they have very tough opponents like Poland and Germany for this home tournament, they will be joined by Pavlo Ostapenko and Sergiy Mykhaylov to defend the honor of the hosting country. As for the women’s competition, Svetlana Baburina and Galina Osheyko are certainly the Ukrainian best pair at this moment, but the composition of the home team is not yet confirmed.
Last year Ukraine made it through the Sub Zonal Phase in Illichivsk in a group that included very strong teams from Poland, the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Beach Volleyball complex set up close to the “Martinika” beach club turned into a very happy location for the home teams and quite evidently the organizers hope that the Ukrainian guys and girls will repeat that same performance also in some 2 and a half weeks.
In the men’s division Ukraine will open its campaign with Greece; it is a tough opponent but still the home guys hope to find their way through this first round. Germany and Sweden will be crossing their ways in the first day of action as well; Germany has not yet determined the pairs that will be competing in Illichivsk, but the country has a wide set of options even in the case the 2009 World champions Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann opt for leaving out this event from their schedule. And Sweden is not to be underestimated, as Hannes Brinkborg and Stefan Gunnarsson are ranked 14th by the FIVB at this moment. The winner of the clash starring Ukraine and Greece will play Estonia in the semis, while Germany or Sweden will test out the likes of Poland, actually an up-and-coming nation that will be lining up Mariusz Prudel/Grzegorz Fijalek and another very promising pair, Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz.
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