First phase of CEV Nations Cup and AVC Continental Cup underway
The qualification journey for the Olympic beach volleyball tournament at Paris 2024 via the continental pathway is now in full swing in Europe and Asia. Allocating one Olympic berth per gender per Continental Confederation, Europe’s CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup and Asia’s AVC Continental Cup are now well underway with the first phases of the two competitions.
Europe
The participating countries in the CEV Nations Cup have been split into seven pools per gender for the preliminary phase of the competition, taking place in a country versus country format between 12 May and 11 June 2023 at various locations across Europe, with the pool winners qualifying for the 2023 Nations Cup Finals. The top three teams of the Finals will then qualify for the 2024 Nations Cup Final Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The tournaments in two women’s and two men’s pools have already been completed.
The competition started with the men’s Pool F event held in Gstaad, Switzerland on 12 and 13 May with the participation of the national teams of Germany, Luxembourg, Moldova, Switzerland and Türkiye.
Germany and hosts Switzerland reached the final match-up. Adrian Heidrich and Leo Dillier put the home team ahead with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) victory over Robin Sowa and Lukas Pfretzschner in the first rubber, but Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers leveled it up with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) shutout of Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener in the second. In the deciding golden set, Heidrich and Dillier mastered a 15-10 win over Ehlers and Wickler to propel Switzerland to the Finals.
Men’s Pool F results and standings https://www.cev.eu/beach/nations-cup/2023/qualifiers-men/pool-f-gstaad-sui/#matches
Tense action in the men’s Pool F final between Switzerland and Germany (Photo credits: cev.eu)
Austria were the second nation to book their spot in the Finals after winning the Pool E tournament held in Madrid, Spain on 15 and 16 May. In the final match-up, the Austrians prevailed over Lithuania with two straight-set victories. Julian Horl and Philipp Waller mastered a 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) shutout of Arnas Rumsevicius and Artur Vasiljev in the first rubber, and Robin Seidl and Moritz Pristauz hammered out a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) sweep of the second rubber against Audrius Knasas and Patrikas Stankevicius. Spain, Slovenia and Croatia lined up in the places from third to fifth in the final pool standings.
Men’s Pool E results and standings https://www.cev.eu/beach/nations-cup/2023/qualifiers-men/pool-e-madrid-esp/#matches
Remaining tournaments of the men’s preliminary phase:
Remaining tournaments of the men’s preliminary phase:
25.05 – 27.05: Pool C in Heraklion (GRE) with Denmark, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy and Ukraine
26.05 – 27.05: Pool B in Netanya (ISR) with Israel, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania and Scotland
26.05 – 27.05: Pool D in Vantaa (FIN) with Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Sweden
06.06 – 08.06: Pool A in Lillesand (NOR) with Bulgaria, England, Estonia, Norway and Slovakia
10.06 – 11.06: Pool G in Budapest (HUN) with Czechia, France, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Portugal
The women’s competition got underway with Pool C action in Apeldoorn, Netherlands on 17 and 18 May, with the home team emerging victorious in the final tie against Slovenia. Emi van Driel and Brecht Piersma dominated over Ziva Javornik and Maja Marolt on the way to a 2-0 (21-7, 21-17) sweep of rubber one.
Then Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon stamped their country’s ticket to the Finals with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) shutout of Tajda Lovsin and Anja Macek. Cyprus and Estonia shared the third place in the final pool standings, leaving Northern Ireland in fifth.
Women’s Pool C results and standings https://www.cev.eu/beach/nations-cup/2023/qualifiers-women/pool-c-apeldoorn-ned/#matches
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsjfSlDNydV/
Poland reserved the second ticket to the women’s Finals after topping the Pool F standings at the tournament played in Ayr, Scotland on 20 and 21 May. The Poles won both rubbers of the final tie against the stellar squad of Czechia. First, Katarzyna Kociolek and Marta Lodej managed a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 20-18) victory over Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova. Then, Jagoda Gruszczynska and Aleksandra Wachowicz produced a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) shutout of Helena Havelkova and Marketa Slukova. Belgium and hosts Scotland were the other two teams competing in the pool.
Women’s Pool F results and standings https://www.cev.eu/beach/nations-cup/2023/qualifiers-women/pool-f-ayr-sco/#matches
Remaining tournaments of the women’s preliminary phase:
25.05 – 27.05: Pool E in Heraklion (GRE) with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain
26.05 – 27.05: Pool G in Netanya (ISR) with Bulgaria, Finland, Israel and Latvia
27.05 – 28.05: Pool B in Bratislava (SVK) with Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine
06.06 – 08.06: Pool A in Lillesand (NOR) with Denmark, Germany, Norway and Türkiye
10.06 – 11.06: Pool D in Budapest (HUN) with Austria, Croatia, England, Hungary and Italy
Asia
In Asia, the five tournaments per gender of the 2023-2024 AVC Continental Cup Phase 1 are split by Zonal Associations. Zonal winners advance straight to Phase 3 (the Finals), while zonal runners-up move to Phase 2, a five-team tournament, in which the winner will also progress to the Finals.
The Phase 1 tournament in the Western Zone was already played in February, https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/qatar-and-lebanon-advance-to-avc-continental?id=100718 with the men’s national team of Qatar and the women’s national team of Lebanon topping the standings and advancing to the Finals, while men’s runners-up Oman and women’s runners-up Qatar went forward to Phase 2.
As an exception, the Phase 1 tournament in the Southeastern Zone was part of the SEA Games held in Sihanoukville, Cambodia from 11 to 16 May.
Thailand in attack at the SEA Games (Photo credits: asianvolleyball.net)
In the women’s final tie, Thailand outplayed Indonesia by two wins to one. Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat mastered a 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) shutout of Yokebed Eka and Nur Sari, while Dhita Juliana and Desi Ratnasari delivered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) victory over Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee to prompt a third-rubber tie-breaker. Thailand’s Worapeerachayakorn and Naraphornrapat produced a 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) win over Dhita and Desi to earn SEA Games gold and push their team to the AVC Continental Cup Finals. The teams of Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Philippines and Malaysia followed in the final standings.
The same two countries met in the men’s final. This time Indonesia triumphed with the SEA Games title and the ticket to the Continental Cup Finals after a tie-breaker rubber win. Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan and Poravid Taovato beat Indonesia’s Danangsyah Pribadi and Gilang Ramadhan by 2-0 (21-16, 21-19), while Mohammad Ashfiya and Bintang Akbar defeated Surin Jongklang and Dunwinit Kaewsai by 2-0 (21-19, 21-19). Ashfiya and Bintang then battled it out for a 2-0 (21-18, 25-23) victory over Pithak and Poravid in the deciding game. The Philippines completed the podium, followed by Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Timor-Leste and Laos in the final standings.
SEA Games results and standings
https://games.cambodia2023.com/#gameresult
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsUFxnPvFNm/
Remaining tournaments of women’s Phase 1:
25.08 – 27.08: Central Zone in Cholpon-Ata (KGZ) with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
31.08 – 02.09: Eastern Zone in Nanjing (CHN) with Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea
01.09 – 05.09: Oceania Zone in Port Vila (VAN) with American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
Remaining tournaments of men’s Phase 1:
31.08 – 02.09: Eastern Zone in Nanjing (CHN) with China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea
01.09 – 05.09: Oceania Zone in Port Vila (VAN) with American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
05.09 – 07.09: Central Zone in Cox’s Bazar (BAN) with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
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