Lebanon & Saudi Arabia win men’s podium in Amman, Jordan; Lebanon wins women’s gold.
Greek, Lebanese, Moldovan and Saudi duos win zonal medals with Empowerment – FIVB
Pairs from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported federations of Greece, Lebanon, Moldova and Saudi Arabia earned medals at zonal beach volleyball tournaments last week.
WAVA Beach Volleyball Tour in Amman, Jordan
Teams from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Lebanon and Saudi Arabia occupied the entire men’s podium at last week’s WAVA Beach Volleyball Tour stop in Amman, Jordan, while the women’s gold also went to a Lebanese pair. Jad Abi Karam & Hadi El Chabib of Lebanon (pictured in the main photo; source: Jordan Volleyball federation) , Hassan Alabdulbaqi & Dhia Alkhawaher of Saudi Arabia and Omar Abi Karam & Charbel Khoueiry, also of Lebanon, in that order grabbed the men’s gold, silver and bronze. Lebanon’s Mirna Cheikho & Lara Al Nahi triumphed in the women’s competition, while Jordan’s Rahaf Haimour & Shahed Al Awamleh and Ghayd’ Alashoush & Ragad Haimur claimed silver and bronze.
The Lebanese Volleyball Federation has been granted USD 84,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their beach volleyball duos working under the guidance of coach Nader el Fidawi, in addition to USD 17,500 in beach volleyball equipment. The Saudi Arabian Volleyball Federation has also been the beneficiary of USD 84,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their beach volleyball teams, trained by Brazilian coach Vinicius Martins Giorni.
In Amman, Jad Abi Karam & Hadi El Chabib of Lebanon won all of their four matches played to claim the West Asian crown. They wrapped up their quest for gold with a 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 15-6) semifinal win over compatriots Omar Abi Karam & Charbel Khoueiry and a 2-1 (12-21, 21-15, 15-4) victory in the final against Saudi Arabia’s Hassan Alabdulbaqi & Dhia Alkhawaher.
The Saudis also won their semifinal against Qatar’s Musa Alkeer Mou & Mohamed Ihab Zaki in three sets, 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 15-7).
The bronze medal match went to Lebanon’s Omar & Charbel in straight sets, 2-0 (26-24, 21-10).
Lebanon’s Mirna Cheikho & Lara Al Nahi did not drop a single set in the four games they played on the way to the women’s zonal gold in Jordan. In the semis, they mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) shutout of Jordan’s Ghayd’ Alashoush & Ragad Haimur, and in the final, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-9, 21-17) victory over another home team, Rahaf Haimour & Shahed Al Awamleh.
In an all-Jordanian semifinal, Rahaf & Shahed achieved a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) win over compatriots Celina Haddad & Katrina Haddad, who then lost to Ghayd’ & Ragad by 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) for the bronze.
10 men’s and 10 women’s pairs from Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia took part in the WAVA Tour stop in Amman.
BVA U22 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championships in Chisinau, Moldova
Duos from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funded federations of Greece and Moldova picked up three medals at the BVA U22 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championships in Chisinau. In the men’s competition, Sandu Casulschi & Alexei Usatov pleased the Moldovan home fans with zonal silver and Greece’s Andreas Kontostathis & Kyriakos Keskinis took bronze, while Bulgaria’s Zahari Zgurov & Georgi Antov triumphed as Balkan champions. On the women’s side, Greece’s Angeliki Charissaki & Aikaterini Fragkioudaki celebrated silver, lining up between winners Ioana Sorina Hododi & Ioana Andreea Miu of Romania and bronze medalists Visnja Canak & Andrijana Durov of Serbia.
The Greek federation’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of USD 304,500 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos, working under the guidance of Konstantinos Pothitakis and Efstathios Chandrinos. Moldova’s beach volleyball is benefitting from a USD 42,000 grant in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national teams, trained by Bulgarian coach Vladimir Orlov.
Moldova’s Sandu Casulschi & Alexei Usatov secured their spot on the men’s podium with a semifinal win over Greece’s Andreas Kontostathis & Kyriakos Keskinis. The Greeks bounced back with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) win over Bulgaria’s Aleksandar Dobrev & Radostin Gyurov in the bronze medal match.
In the men’s final, Bulgaria’s Zahari Zgurov & Georgi Antov achieved a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) victory over Casulschi & Usatov to snatch the Balkan crown. Before that, they won the all-Bulgaria semifinal against Dobrev & Gyurov.
To guarantee themselves at least a silver medal, Greece’s Angeliki Charissaki & Aikaterini Fragkioudaki defeated Serbia’s Visnja Canak & Andrijana Durov in the women’s semifinals. Moldova’s Inessa Staver & Daria Usatova failed to do so in the other semifinal against Romania’s Ioana Miu & Ioana Hododi.
Miu & Hododi conquered the title of the southern European zone with a hard-fought 2-1 (13-21, 21-14, 15-13) comeback victory over Charissaki & Fragkioudaki, while Canak & Durov completed the podium with bronze after delivering a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) sweep of the third-place playoff against Staver & Usatova.
16 men’s and 16 women’s pairs took part in the BVA U22 Beach Volleyball Balkan Championships.
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