FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported duos from the Netherlands, Greece and Finland line up on the women’s podium at the Balkan Beach Volleyball Championships in Balikesir
Greece also collects the men’s silver and bronze
Host country Türkiye triumphs in the men’s competition
As many as five teams benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support lined up on the podiums at last week’s BVA Beach Volleyball Zonal Balkan Championships in Balikesir. Host country Türkiye’s representatives Yusuf Ozdemir & Batuhan Kuru, who won the men’s tournament, were the only exception among the medallists. Greece’s Iason Kanellos & Panagiotis Ioannidis and Evangelos Sideris & Antiol Kola completed the men’s podium. Their female compatriots Elisavet Triantafillidi & Dimitra Manavi claimed the women’s silver, accompanied by two wild-card teams on the women’s podium (pictured in the main photo; credits: tvf.org.tr). Annemieke Driessen & Maren de Jong of the Netherlands celebrated the gold, while Finland’s Essi Nirhamo & Anni Viitala took the bronze.
Dutch beach volleyball has been benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support worth CHF 144,000 so far. Their women’s national teams have been coached by Nina te Lintel Hekkert. Greece’s Hellenic Volleyball Federation has so far been granted a total of CHF 225,000 in coach support for their national duos in beach volleyball. Coaches Kostas Pothitakis and Stathis Chandrinos have been in charge of training the teams. Finland’s women’s national pairs have been working with coach Toni Vahela on an FIVB Volleyball Empowerment grant worth CHF 72,000.
In the women’s competition, sixth-seeded wild cards Driessen & De Jong of the Netherlands topped the final standings of the double-elimination tournament with a 5-1 win-loss record. The only loss they suffered came in the third round at the hands of second-seeded Triantafillidi & Manavi. After returning to their winning ways, Driessen & De Jong reached Sunday’s final and claimed the gold with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) sweep.
In their semi-final earlier on Sunday, the duo claimed a hard-fought 2-0 (27-25, 21-15) victory over fourth-seeded Adina Stanciu & Ioana-Alexandra Ordean of Romania.
The other finalists Triantafillidi & Manavi produced a 2-0 (21-11, 21-10) sweep of the other semi-final against ninth-seeded Nirhamo & Viitala to claim their third win of the tournament, before suffering their first defeat in the final.
The Nirhamo & Viitala of Finland bounced back with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-16) victory over Stanciu & Ordean in the third-place match to pocket the bronze, also taking their revenge after losing to Stanciu & Ordean in the third round.
Women’s results and standings
The men’s BVA Beach Volleyball Zonal Balkan Championship podium in Balikesir (Photo credits: tvf.org.tr)
The two men’s duos from Greece, second-seeded Kanellos & Ioannidis and eighth-seeded Sideris & Antiol Kola, reached the semi-finals undefeated. Along the way, Kanellos & Ioannidis produced a three-set victory over the home pair of Yusuf & Batuhan. The pair from Türkiye made their way back to the semi-finals, where they mastered a 2-0 (21-11, 21-14) win over Sideris & Antiol Kola for a re-match with Kanellos & Ioannidis in the final. Kanellos & Ioannidis delivered a 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) sweep of their semi-final against 10th-seeded Andrei Grigore & Eduard Popa of Romania.
In the gold medal showdown, Yusuf & Batuhan pleased the home crowd with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) victory to top the podium. Sideris & Antiol Kola joined their compatriots, runners-up Kanellos & Ioannidis, on the podium as bronze medallists after a 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) win over Grigore & Popa in the third place match.
Men’s results and standings
A total of 14 men’s and 12 women’s teams, representing seven different countries, took part in the Balkan Championships.