UNDER 23s SET OFF TOMORROW

The U23 European Beach Volleyball Championships

Brno/Luxembourg, July 28, 2004. Following the European Beach Volleyball Championships of the Under 20s which were held last weekend in Koper (SLO) the Under 23s will be finding their feet in the sands of Brno (CZE) tomorrow.

Pursuing the same competition format as for the Under 20s and the Under 18s, which will take place in Myslowice (POL) next week, a total of 48 teams (24 men’s and 24 women’s) from 21 different European volleyball federations are hoping to take home some medals.

Tough battles are foreseen as many contestants have already gathered a lot of experience in international senior tournaments. 22-year-old Spaniard Pablo Herrera, for example, won the Italian Open in Roseto degli Abruzzi (ITA) earlier this year next to the more experienced Javier Bosma, beating the newly crowned European Champions Dieckmann/Reckermann from Germany in the final. Partnering same-aged Raul Mesa, together with whom Herrera holds the Junior World Champion title 2002, they will be facing serious opposition in the coming days. Vasilevkiy/Zhloba are determined to successfully defend the Russian gold from 2003 which was won by their compatriots Koulikovski/Verbov, whereas Germany entered the competition with Krug/Urbatzka, third in the 2002 Under 20 European Champions and runner-ups in the 2003 Under 21 World Championships. The organisers’ hope will be set on the Czech youngsters Kolar/Rotrekl who won the Under 20 European Championships two years ago.

Klapalova/Petrova are the representatives from the Czech Republic who face the difficult task of defending last year’s title of the Tychnova sisters. They will, however, be challenged by an experienced sister duo from Finland, the Nyströms, who were crowned Under 20 European Champions in 2002, as well as by two strong German pairings, namely Goller/Ludwig (GER I) and Holtwick/Kleefisch (GER II).

More on the web at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:
29 July - 1 August 2004: Under 23 European Beach Volleyball Championships, Brno, Czech Republic.
5-8 August 2004: Under 18 European Beach Volleyball Championships, Myslowice, Poland.
2 September 2004: Drawing of lots 2004-2005 Indesit European Champions’ League, Vienna, Austria.
3-11 September 2004: Women’s Under 19 European Championships, Bardejov, Presov, Slovakia.
4-12 September 2004: Men’s Under 20 European Championships, Zagreb, Croatia.