Monika Paulikienė and Ainė Raupelytė defeated one of the favorites of the tournament, Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon from the Netherlands, after a very dramatic and self-sacrificing fight 2-1 (21:17, 20:22, 21:19) in the round of 16 of the women’s competition.
These Dutch beach volleyball players were second in the division after winning bronze medals at last year’s European championships. They are ranked fifth in the world ranking.
The Lithuanian athletes, who previously won another difficult match in the first round of the playoffs, started the round of 16 very energetically and strongly. After dominating the court for most of the set, our team took the lead. In the second set, the experienced Dutch did not allow the Lithuanians to break away anymore and everything was decided at the end. Having scored decisive points, the Dutch equalized the overall result.
The third set was a real highlight of the tournament. The self-sacrificing game of both teams, the fight for every ball, could not leave anyone indifferent. When the decisive phase was reached, both the Lithuanians and the Dutch had more than one chance to win the match by a point, but the result kept becoming equal. Finally, M. Paulikienė and A. Raupelytė scored two points in a row and won a historic victory.
Until now, Lithuania has not had a team in the European eight.
In the quarterfinals on Friday morning, M. Paulikienė and A. Raupelytė will play against the Swiss Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Mader, who are fifth in the division.
European Championship debutants Patrikas Stankevičius and Audrius Knašas made it to the playoffs in the men’s tournament.
They beat Austrians Timo Hammarberg and Timo Berger 2-0 (21:17, 21:17) in the match of Group F for third place and survival in the championship.
Among the 24 strongest European teams, the Lithuanian beach volleyball players will play in the first round of the playoffs with the fifth ranked Italians Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula, who have Olympic experience.
32 men’s and women’s teams each participate in the European Beach Volleyball Championship. The prize fund of the competition consists of 200 thousand. euros.
2023-08-03 19:27:36
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