Latvian duos post mixed results at start of U18 European Beach Volleyball Championship
Latvia's men's pair Ernests Pastars and Renārs Lasmanis opened the U18 European Beach Volleyball Championship with a win, while women's duo Paula Krieva and Estere Zaķīte had one loss and one win.
In the men's competition, Ernests Pastars and Renārs Lasmanis, seeded sixth, opened the tournament on Thursday with a convincing 2-0 (21:17, 21:11) win over host-nation pair Ismail Kilinç and Melih Mangirci, seeded 27th. The victory moved the Latvians a step closer to the knockout stage.
On Friday, Pastars and Lasmanis face two more pool matches — against Croatia's Šimun Lozančić and Viktor Vidović (seeded 22nd) and Finland's Martti Talvi and Julius Uusitalo (seeded 11th). In the head-to-head between those two rivals, the Finnish pair won in three sets, 2-1 (24:22, 19:21, 15:9). Pool winners advance directly to the round of 16, while second- and third-place finishers move into the first round of the knockout bracket.
The women's tournament follows the same format, with Latvia represented by Paula Krieva and Estere Zaķīte, seeded 10th. They lost their opening match 0-2 (14:21, 17:21) to Spain's Sinemisa Aslan and Ushue Cuadrado, who had come through qualification. In their second match, the Latvians bounced back with a 2-0 (21:16, 21:17) win over Serbia's Andrijana Đurov and Nadja Milić.
On Friday, Krieva and Zaķīte will face France's Izia Delporte and Malo Mira, seeded seventh, in Pool G. The French pair won both of their Thursday matches — 2-0 (21:15, 26:24) against Serbia and 2-1 (21:19, 19:21, 15:11) against Spain.
This is the last of three European beach volleyball championships for different age groups being held this September. Latvian athletes have previously won the U18 European title twice, collecting five medals in total in the age group. In 2015 in Riga, Tīna Graudiņa and Paula Ņečiporuka claimed gold, while in 2022 in Loutraki, Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auziņš won the championship.
