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Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš Photo: FIVB
Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš started the beach volleyball tournament with a loss in Jūrmala on Thursday. Samoilovs / Šmēdiņš, who were sown with the 12th issue, with the result 0-2 (19:21, 17:21) gave way to the Italians Danieli Lupo and Alex Rangjeri, who in turn were sown with the fourth issue.
In the introduction to the first set, Samoilov managed to win a two-point lead (10: 8), but the Italians continued to draw (11:11). The first set continued in a fierce battle, but the Italians managed to score two decisive points and reach 21:19. The teams in the second set also started with a similar game, not allowing any of the units to take the lead by more than one point. After the mistakes of the Latvian duo, the Italian duo managed to gain a three-point lead.
Arriving with a result of 12:15, the Latvian duo demanded a break, but even after that the opponents continued to increase their (16:12). After successful matches, Latvia managed to reduce the deficit to two points, but the Italians then gained a four-point advantage (20:16). The Italians did not use the first match, but the second time the game turned out in favor of the Italian athletes, who also celebrated the victory in the second set with 21:17.
Tomorrow, the Latvian men’s duo will face another Italian couple, Paolo Nikolai and Samuel Kotafav, but in the last Group D match, Samoilov / Šmēdiņš will play against the Dutchman Stephen van de Feld and Christian Warrenhorst (5th).
As the last Latvian duo at 8 p.m. Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Kravčenoka (1st) will play in the central court, fighting against Brazilian beach volleyball players Barbara Seísas and Karolina Salgada (9th), who have just celebrated their victory in the Doha “Beach Pro tour – Challenge” series tournament.
Two more Brazilian duos – Eduard Lisbou / Ana Patricia Ramusa and Victoria Lopez Pereira / Taina Silva Bigi – will face in the games of the group Graudiņa and Kravčenoka.
It has already been reported that the second Latvian lady duo Marta Ozoliņa and Luīze Anna Skrastiņa started the main competition with a failure, which lost the Americans Sarah Huzza and Kellija Kolinski 2-0 (13:21, 6:21).
This is the third tournament of the season in the “Elite 16” series. The first took place in the Mexican city of Rosarito at the end of March, and the second last week in the Czech city of Ostrov.
Graudiņa paired with Kravčenok in Mexico until the final, but in Ostrov – until the quarterfinals, while Samoilov and Jānis Šmēdiņš finished in the first tournament in the divided 13th place, and in the second – in the 21st place.
In the “Elite 16” competition, 16 duos play in four subgroups, completing a one-round tournament, after which the two best pairs in each group reach the quarterfinals.
A prize fund of USD 150,000 (EUR 140,000) is distributed to both men and women.
It has already been reported that two Latvian women’s and four men’s pairs took part in the qualification, but none of them won a place in the main competition.
The tournament with the participation of Latvian duets will take place from June 1 to 5 on Majori beach in Jurmala.
The first level competition in the “Pro Beach Tour” this year is called “Elite 16”, the second in the ranking is “Challenge”, the third – “Futures”. In the first “Elite 16” tournament of the season in Mexico, Graudiņa / Kravčenoka won the second place.
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