The teams Marco Caminati/Enrico Rossi from Italy and Sophie Van Gestel/Jantine Van der Vlist from The Netherlands won the first tournament of the 2015 WEVZA Beach Volleyball Zonal Tour celebrated in Spanish city of Barcelona. The two duos reached the top positions in the final podium after starring in a thrilling event that captivated the attention of the sport in the charming Spanish city, in the inaugural tournament of the Beach Volleyball season for the zonal association of the Western European countries.
The spectacular women’s competition was topped off with the final victory of Dutch stars Sophie Van Gestel/Jantine Van der Vlist. The 23 and 29 years old players beat Italys’ Laura Gombini/Giulia Toti 2:0 (21-10, 21-11) in a convincing demostration of power and efficiency. After shining in the Semifinals, with a hard-fought tie-breaker triumph over French duo Longuet/Jupiter, Italians Giombini/Toti dreamed of a victory in the title deciding match on Sunday. However, Dutch powerhouses Van Gestel/Van der Vlist gave no options to young “azzurri” duo and conclusively won the Final game in two irrevocable sets.
The third position in the final podium was earned by French duo Laura Longuet/Alexandra Jupiter, who beat Italy’s Greta Cicolari/Margherita Bianchin by 0:2 (15-21, 8-21) in the 3/4 Final match. The 27 and 25 years old French duo controlled the game from begining to end and avoided two Italian teams in the final podium in the women’s tournament.
The team Marco Caminati/Enrico Rossi from Italy were crowned in the men’s tournament after shining in a spectacular display of stamina and courage. The Italian duo had initiated the competition from the Qualification round, and match after match exhibited an outstanding level of recovery and superiority so to reach the Final clash of the tournament. In the title deciding game, the 22 and 21 years old Italian players beat fellow country men Cecchini/Martino 2:0 (21-17, 21-8), thus closing a brilliant performance throughout the three days of competition.
French duo Yannick Salvetti/Jean-Baptiste Daguerre avoided local dreams of reaching medals after beating Spaniards Francisco Tomás/César Menéndez 1:2 (23-21, 17-21, 13-15) in a spectacular Final 3/4 match. The 27 and 34 years old French players were able to overcome the home ground factor and presented a remarkable comeback to win the disputed clash in the rollercoaster tie-break.
The coronation of Italian and Dutch duos finished a thrilling tournament that inaugurated the season of the Beach Volleyball Tour for the Zonal Volleyball association of the Western countries formed by the nations of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland., in a remarkable event celebrated in the striking venue of “Moll de la Marina” in Barcelona.
Click here for all the results of the tournament.
Click here for the picture gallery for the event.
