CEV, Luxembourg. There is a major highlight coming up for Beach Volleyball players, fans and all other stakeholders, with the CEV Board of Administration confirming at their virtual meeting on Tuesday that the 2020 edition of EuroBeachVolley will be taking place from September 16 to 20 in Jurmala, Latvia. The continental showpiece event will return to Majori beach after Latvia’s most popular seaside resort previously crowned the best Beach Volleyball teams in Europe in the summer of 2017.
The white, sandy, iconic beach of Majori is a very popular destination not only for tourists, but for Beach Volleyball players as well. A major international Beach Volleyball competition took place for the very first time in Jurmala back in 2014, with a CEV Satellite, before the organisers stepped it up with the delivery of a CEV men’s-only Masters in 2015, a double-gender event in 2016 and the historic EuroBeachVolley a year later.
Beach Volleyball has literally found its home in Latvia, especially following the bronze medal claimed by Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins at the London 2012 Olympics. Latvia’s success story in the sport has gone from strength to strength since those glory days at Horse Guards Parade, with Smedins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs claiming the men’s continental crown in 2015 in Klagenfurt before Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka achieved the same feat in the women’s competition last year in Moscow.
Obviously, with the safety and well-being of all people involved as their top priority, the CEV and the local organisers will implement strict measures and follow good hygiene practices and the most recent guidelines provided by international and national health authorities to make sure that the event goes ahead while reducing the risk of coronavirus infection.
“We are delighted that we can offer to our top European Beach Volleyball athletes a unique platform to perform during this challenging time,” said CEV President Aleksandar Bori?i?. “Together with the local organisers, we genuinely wish to send out a clear message that the European Volleyball family is ready to resume activities for all our stakeholders and especially for our elite European Beach Volleyball athletes. The CEV would like to thank the Latvian Volleyball Federation for stepping up to organise an event of this magnitude in this unprecedented situation and is determined to work closely with the local team for the preparation and delivery of a remarkable event while providing safe conditions for all involved.”
A full stadium during the 2017 edition of EuroBeachVolley held in Jurmala, Latvia
“This is good news for all Latvian sports,” says Janis Buks, the President of the Latvian Volleyball Federation (LVF). “This will be another great opportunity to make Latvia’s name resound across the world. We have repeatedly proven our ability to host top-level tournaments, and we are ready to do it again, even though there are and there will be many challenges. We do understand that we are facing a challenge but we will do our best to tackle it and will do everything at the highest possible level. We are grateful for the support provided by the Jurmala City Council. Currently, the negotiations to secure the provision of state funding for the event are still underway and we communicate with the Ministry of Education and Science to resolve it as quickly and smoothly as possible,” says Buks.
Tina Graudi?a, one of the top European Beach Volleyball players and the defending European champion (in tandem with Anastasija Kravcenoka), expresses her happiness that the continental tournament is going to take place in her hometown: “I am very happy with this news. It is awesome that the defence of the title will take place at home. I suppose Latvian sports fans are also happy to welcome the European Championship in Jurmala, especially at this time, when sports events are a rarity. We will all have to be responsible; all security measures must be taken into account so as not to endanger each other. The Latvian Volleyball Federation has extensive experience in organising such events, so I believe that the tournament will be held responsibly and safely. Anastasija and I have showed good performances in Jurmala, we have been successful in almost all tournaments held there. I am fully aware that this year our performance has to be the best ever to achieve the best possible results.”
The event will feature 32 teams per gender, with local favourites Graudina/Kravcenoka and Norway’s Anders Mol/Christian Sørum being the defending women’s and men’s European champions.
Visit the official website here.
Izmir to host #EuroBeachVolleyU22
On Tuesday, the CEV Board of Administration approved also the application sent by the Turkish Volleyball Federation to host the 2020 edition of #EuroBeachVolleyU22 at Efes Selçuk Pamucak Beach in Izmir from September 23 to 27, 2020. The very same venue will be playing host to the U18 continental championship as well, doing so a week earlier, i.e. from September 16 to 20. Izmir and Turkey have stepped in after the Dutch Volleyball Federation had to withdraw from hosting the U22 event initially planned to take place in the city of Vlissingen due to restrictions in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The venue due to host the 2020 edition of #EuroBeachVolleyU22 and #EuroBeachVolleyU18 later this summer in Izmir
“The CEV would like to sincerely thank the Turkish Volleyball Federation for their readiness to organise an event in this unprecedented situation and for their long-term commitment to European Beach Volleyball events,” CEV President Bori?i? said.
Source:
CEV – European Volleyball
