Pļaviņš on EC draw: "The group is not a piece of cake"
Latvian beach volleyball pairs have learned their opponents for the European Championship. Mārtiņš Pļaviņš admits the group is tough, while Tīna Graudiņa hopes to finally overcome the quarterfinal hurdle.
On Friday, the draw for the European Beach Volleyball Championship took place, revealing the group opponents for Latvian pairs. In the women's tournament, top-seeded Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova will face Ukraine's Anhelina Hmiļa and Valentina Davidova, Spain's Sofía Izuzquiza and Tania Moreno, and Estonia's Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg.
Graudiņa acknowledged that while the opponents may appear weaker on paper, the start of the tournament will be challenging. She noted that the Ukrainian team is very tenacious, the Spanish duo is new and needs to be figured out, and matches against the Estonians have always been tough. Her goal is not only to reach the quarterfinals but to finally get past that stage, as they have been eliminated in the quarterfinals for the past three years.
The men's group includes both Latvian teams – Mārtiņš Pļaviņš/Kristians Fokerots and Edgars Točs/Gustavs Auziņš – along with Austria's Philipp Waller/Moritz Pristauz and Germany's Paul Hennig/Lukas Pfretzschner.
Pļaviņš said that the possibility of being in the same group as the other Latvian duo was not a surprise. He mentioned that they have never played against Točs and Auziņš at the international level, making it an interesting matchup. Against the Austrians, they lost earlier this season and hope for revenge. The Germans are known for their strong serves. Overall, he described the group as difficult, as all teams in the European Championship are evenly matched and every game will require full effort.
