Brazil and Netherlands capture first Under-18 World Champions title

Xylokastron, Greece, September 1 - Brazilian Pedro Salgado and Ian Borges and women's squad Sanne Keizer-Arjanne Stevens are the first FIVB Under-18 Beach Volleyball World Champions after overcoming the Greek offence of Andreas Gortisanouk-Theodoris Papadimitriou and of Germans Claudia Lehmann-Friederike Romberg in the finals here in Xylokastro. The Brazilian samba of Salgado-Borges succeeded over the Greek sirtaki in two straight sets (21-18, 22-20) showing once more that Brazil remains one of the top Beach Volleyball nations. Salgado-Borges entertained the capacity crowds with powerful spikes and top class blocks, but for Gortisanouk-Papdimitriou, the pressure was too much and they incurred a number of unforced errors. The silver medal is already a great success for Greek Beach Volleyball. The winning nation of the tournament certainly is Germany, who booked two medals in the women's competition, the silver and the bronze, while the gold medal went to The Netherlands for a complete European sweep on the tournament. Claudia Lehmann-Friederike Romberg lost their final match against Dutch pair Sanne Keizer-Arjanne Stevens in two sets (22-20,21-17). For the 'oranjes' it is the first gold medal, after winning silver at the CEV cup in the Ukraine two weeks ago. Earlier on Ruth Flemig-Ilka Semmler waltzed over Brazilians Isabel Grael-Carolina Salgado to win the Bronze Medal. The success series for the German Beach Volleyball seems to be endless and under the guidance of head coach Lennard Krapp, the juniors have already captured 17 medals. There were some disappointed faces among the Brazilians, but Carlina Salgado, the sister of Pedro Salgado, is only 15 years old and will have more chances to take the trophy in the future. The men's Bronze Medal went to Rouslan Daynov-Yaroslav Koshkarev of Russia who had the stronger nerves in their tense clash against Sebastian Pecherz and Kamil Lyczko of Poland. The first edition of this Under-18 World Championships ended with a parade of nations and a friendship 'match' between all participating players on the Centre Court to wind up great tournament for players, organizers and spectators alike. "The level of Beach Volleyball among the youngsters was surprisingly high. Some of the teams could already play on the World Tour," said Hinnerk Femerling, FIVB Technical Supervisor of the event. The young athletes impressed not only with the technical skills, but also with their professional on-court behaviour, showing fair play and strong will in the face of the pressure and excitement at such an important event. Some one hundred players from 20 countries entered the competition, for most of them it was their first appearance on international sand. Teams like British Kerri Olding-Amy Weemes weren't that successful, but said, "It was a great learning experience for us and we love it here." Others like, Austrian coach Stefan Hömberg said it was one of the best junior events ever held. "I hope there will be a second edition next year," he said. The FIVB has made a commitment to hold annual U18, and U21 World Championships to encourage the next generation of Beach volleyballers. Final Ranking of the FIVB Under-18 Beach Volleyball World Championships: Women: Sanne Keizer-Arjanne Stevens, The Netherlands Claudia Lehmann-Friederike Romberg, Germany Ruth Flemig-Ilka Semmler, Germany Men: Pedro Salgado-Ian Borges, Brazil Andreas Gortisanouk-Theodoris Papadimitriou, Greece Rouslan Daynov-Yaroslav Koshkarev, Russia The FIVB World Tour resumes next week in Mallorca, Spain with the second last event for both genders in the 2002 season and the last one in Europe. Contact FIVB Press Delegate Michaela Binder onsite: e-mail: michaela_binder@gmx.at Press Center on site: Phone +30 7430 29141 Fax +30 7430 29140 More on the Net: www.fivb.org ~ FIVB Online Info

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