Vienna, Austria. If you are already missing the teams that led Europe to the podium at the Tokyo Olympics, there is comfort coming your way. The teams will be back in the sand already today at the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2021 presented by Swatch.
After a fantastic first day for women, it is now time for the men to fight for European glory in the Austrian capital city. On the second day of the event, all the top stars of European and international beach volleyball will be on display.
In 32 games, which will be played both in the Red Bull Beach Arena and on the A1 5G Side Courts during the day, no fewer than 33 Olympic athletes are in action in Vienna and 23 of them were competing in Tokyo in the last two weeks.
All games are streamed live for both the Austrian and the international audience. If you are in the host country of the EuroBeachVolley, beachvolleyball.at will stream all games live on each of the five days of the competition.
If you are outside of Austria, the YouTube channel of the European Volleyball Association (CEV) is the right address. All pool games of the tournament, the sixteenth finals and the last sixteen are broadcast live here. From the quarter-finals onwards, the games will be shown on EuroVolleyTV.
With so many options, it’s hard to keep track of things. Here are some suggestions for Thursday:
Who? Stoyanovskiy / Krasilnikov (Russia) vs. Nolvak / Tiisaar (Estonia)
When? 9:00 AM CEST
Where? A1 5G Side Court 3
Why? Stoyanovskiy and Krasilnikov are the new winners of the silver medal in Tokyo, the first Beach Volleyball Olympic medal for their country. They also made it to the finals at EuroBeachVolley 2020. The Russians are in great shape and will be looking for revenge after having been unsuccessful in Vienna in recent years. The Estonians are an up and coming team on the World Tour and the EuroBeachVolley is their biggest tournament this year. They will be well prepared to give the Russians an uphill battle.
Who? Mol / Sørum (Norway) vs. Aye / Gauthier-Rat (France)
When? 11:00 AM CEST
Where? A1 5G Side Court 2
Why? If the Russians are worth watching after taking silver at the Olympics and EuroBeachVolley 2020, what about the team that won both tournaments? Shortly after reaching the peak of their careers, Mol and Sørum could break records and make history again in Vienna. A solid performance in the opening game lays the foundation. The Vikings now have an even bigger goal in mind, however, Aye and Gauthier-Rat are looking forward to spoil it for them, especially as the EuroBeachVolley is the first official tournament in the Olympic cycle leading to the Paris Games in 2024.
Who? Perusic / Schweiner (Czech Republic) vs. Doppler / Horst (Austria)
When? 12.45 PM CEST
Where? Red Bull Beach Arena
Why? Perusic and Schweiner, currently one of the hottest teams in international beach volleyball, showed an impressive performance in Tokyo. They fought their way back after being forced to give up a match due to a positive COVID-19 test. Despite their best efforts, they did not advance from pool pool and certainly see the EuroBeachVolley as an opportunity to show what they could have achieved in Tokyo. For the local heroes Doppler and Horst, who will split up afterwards, this will be a special tournament. Even if they are guaranteed to play at least one more match later in the day, every opportunity should be used to see the legendary Austrians play together in Vienna.
