Slovakia’s Barbora Tokosova & Martina Terenova win gold in Benesov; Czechia takes silver and bronze
Slovakia and Czechia occupy MEVZA women’s podium with Empowerment – FIVB
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries from Slovakia and host nation Czechia swept the entire women’s podium at the MEVZA Beach Volleyball Tour stop in Benesov last week. Slovakia’s Barbora Tokosova & Martina Terenova triumphed as tournament winners, while Czechia’s Julie Honzovicova & Anna Pospisilova and Magdalena Cerna & Andrea Lorenzova pleased the home fans with silver and bronze, respectively. Two Czech pairs met in the men’s final, with Ondrej Perusic & Jiri Sedlak defeating Jan Bercik & Vaclav Bercik, while Luxembourg’s Colin Hilbert & Steve Weber picked up the bronze.
The Slovak Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has been funded with USD 126,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams, USD 6,000 in a national team coach development knowledge transfer program, and USD 5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. Slovakia’s women’s pairs are trained by Canadian coach Ryan Hutchinson. The Czech Volleyball Federation has been allocated USD 210,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their women’s beach volleyball teams and another USD 18,000 in national beach volleyball team coach development knowledge transfer programs. Their women’s pairs take advantage of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo’s expertise.
Slovakia’s Barbora Tokosova & Martina Terenova went through the zonal tournament in Benesov undefeated in five matches played. In four of their games, they had to persevere through three-set battles to eventually get to the highest step on the podium. On Sunday’s last competition day, Tokosova & Martina Terenova mounted a 2-1 (16-21, 21-15, 15-13) comeback victory in the semifinal against Czechia’s Magdalena Cerna & Andrea Lorenzova, and followed up with 2-1 (21-10, 17-21, 15-9) win of the gold medal showdown against another home team, Julie Honzovicova & Anna Pospisilova.
Honzovicova & Pospisilova also reached the final unbeaten. In their semifinal, they produced a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) straight-setter against Hungary’s Chiara Honti-Majoros & Adrienn Posztos-Szabo. Cerna & Lorenzova recovered from their first loss of the tournament in the semifinals with a 2-0 (21-7, 21-13) sweep of the bronze medal game against the Hungarian duo.
Two-time Olympian and former world champion Ondrej Perusic, who announced an end to his career as a professional beach volleyballer in January, returned to the courts of the zonal event in Benesov along with new partner Jiri Sedlak. The new team cruised through the entire men’s tournament without dropping a single set. They completed their perfect five-match winning streak with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) semifinal victory over Austria’s Michael Klemen & Elias Holzinger, and a 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) victory over compatriots Jan Bercik & Vaclav Bercik in the final.
To secure an all-Czech gold medal showdown, Bercik & Bercik mastered a 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) sweep of their semifinal against Luxembourg’s Colin Hilbert & Steve Weber, for whom it was the first loss of the tournament. They bounced back with a 2-1 (13-21, 21-17, 15-13) turnaround against Klemen & Holzinger in the third-place match to claim the bronze.
28 women’s and 28 men’s pairs from Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Slovenia took part in the zonal event in Benesov.
Photo source: MEVZA – Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association
Slovakia and Czechia occupy MEVZA women’s podium with Empowerment
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