Graudiņa and Ēbere triumph in Saulkrasti beach volleyball tournament
Tīna Graudiņa and Līva Ēbere won the traditional 'Saulkrastu kokteilis' beach volleyball tournament in Saulkrasti on Saturday, which also served as the second stage of the Latvian Championship.
In the women's final, second-seeded Graudiņa and Ēbere defeated tournament favorites – Graudiņa's usual partner Anastasija Samoilova and Spanish player Daniela Alvaresa – 2-0 (21:14, 21:11).
In the men's competition, fourth-seeded Edgars Točs and Gustavs Auziņš won the final 2-0 (21:15, 21:17) against Artūrs Rinkevičs and Ardis Daniels Bedrītis (third seeds). Bronze went to favorites Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Kristiāns Fokerots, who convincingly beat qualifiers Ralfs Namiķis and Rūdolfs Stankevičs (12th seeds) 2-0 (21:11, 21:9) in the third-place match.
In the women's event, 16th-seeded Latvian-descent Americans Lorena and Ambera Stivriņas, making their debut under the Latvian flag, lost in the quarterfinals to Lithuanian duo Daniela Kvedraite and Jekaterina Saule (fifth seeds).
Each category featured 16 pairs divided into four groups. This season's Latvian Championship consists of five stages: in Jūrmala, Saulkrasti, Liepāja, Ventspils, and Ropaži district near the Sāga shopping center. The final stage will take place in August.
