POLAND WITH THE BETTER FINISH IN BOTH FINAL SHOOT-OUTS AGAINST GERMANY

Under 18 European Beach Volleyball Championships

Myslowice/Luxembourg, August 8, 2004. The Polish Under 18 Beach Volleyball teams this year snatched the gold medal in both gender categories, each time against Germany. Whereas Bartman/Kubiak defeated the Germans Kienast/Späth in straight sets in the boys’ draw, the Polish girls Urban/Wiatr faced a much tougher battle against Büttner/Sude (GER), just winning the tiebreak 16:14.

Storming through the qualifying pool rounds without losing a set, Poland’s number one and number two boys’ Under 18 team, Zbigniew Bartman/Michal Kubiak respectively Grzegorz Fijalek/Grzegorz Pajak, proved their will to win, threatening the German duo Marko Kienast/Thilo Späth, who faced the difficult task of retaining the gold medal for Germany secured last year by their compatriots Hendrik Matthiessen/Stefan Uhmann. The semi-final set-up already limited the final three podium places to two nations only, Germany and Poland, with Bartman/Kubiak (POLI) facing Jonathan Erdmann/Stefan Windscheif (GERII) and Fijalek/Pajak (POLII) confronting Kienast/Späth (GERI). According to hierarchy, both number one teams confirmed their number one position, leaving their countrymen to fight for bronze. Trailing behind one set against Germany I, Fijalek/Pajak finally levelled to win the tiebreak 15:10, bringing home the first medal for Poland. Following this home success, Poland I carried on to defeat Kienast/Späth (GERI) in the final, making the Polish success perfect.

Similar to the boys’ final four teams (POLI, POLII, GERI, GERII) both German duos (Florentina Büttner/Julia Sude and Lina Gorenc/Katharina Schillerwein), as well as the host pairing Katarzyna Urban/Joanna Wiatr (POL), made it to the semi-final stage in the girls’ draw. As in the boys’ final the Polish girls also claimed the European Under 18 Beach Volleyball title, beating Büttner/Sude in a close 16:14-tiebreak in the final. Germany’s number one team once again missed its chance of winning gold after also having lost last year’s edition to their fellow compatriots Jana Köhler/Laura Ludwig. Gorenc/Schillerwein (GERII) finished third, defeating Eva Krystova/Veronika Opravilova from the Czech Republic in three sets.

European Under 18 Beach Volleyball Championships

Results Men Semifinals

Bartman/Kubiak (POLI) - Erdmann/Windscheif (GERII)	2:0	21:19, 21:10
Fijalek/Pajak (POLII) - Kienast/Späth (GERI)	0:2	19:21, 19:21

Classification 3rd place

Erdmann/Windscheif (GERII) - Fijalek/Pajak (POLII)

1:2

21:11, 14:21, 10:15

Results Men Final

Bartman/Kubiak (POLI) - Kienast/Späth (GERI)

2:0

21:14, 28:26

Results Women Semifinals

Büttner/Sude (GERI) - Gorenc/Schillerwein (GERII)	2:0	21:17, 22:20
Urban/Wiatr (POLI) - Krystova/Opravilova (CZEI)	2:1	16:21, 22:20, 15:9

Classification 3rd place

Gorenc/Schillerwein (GERII) - Krystova/Opravilova (CZEI)

2:1

21:14, 8:21, 15:11

Results Women Final

Büttner/Sude (GERI) - Urban/Wiatr (POLI)

1:2

18:21, 21:15, 14:16

More on the web at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:
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.