Nerves of steel take Latvian to semi-finals

On the third day of play, the women's duos from Italy and Latvia met in the first quarter-final of the tournament. In the first match, the second placed teams of each nation faced each other on the court of the Red Bull Beach Arena. On the Italian side, the 23-year-old Reka Orsi Toth and the 30-year-old Sara Breidenbach competed. They faced the two 20-year-old Latvians Anete Namike and Varvara Brailko - the U20 European champions from 2020.

Already in the first set, the Italian duo Orsi Toth/Breidenbach showed their skills. They played on a high level from the beginning, but also gave away some points to the Latvian team. The Latvian team was able to close the gap on Italy to some extent, so that the score was 20:17 just before the end of the first set. Due to a mistake, however, the Latvian team gave away the first set and lost 17:21. The second set was similar. Anete Namike and Varvara Brailko from Latvia played on a high level, but nevertheless uncleanly in the decisive moments. The second set was won 21:15 by the Italians, who thus won match one 2:0.

In the second match, the top-seeded teams of the two nations met. For Italy, the 22-year-old Claudia Scampoli and the 27-year-old Margherita Bianchin, who were both happy about their ninth place at the 2022 World Championships, started. At centre court, they awaited the 2019 European champions - Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina from Latvia.

The second set also started well for the Italian women's team - they took the lead right from the start. However, the Graudina/Kravcenoka team caught up and showed greatness. While the Latvian women's duo played in a class of their own and showed intangibles in front of a full Red Bull Beach Arena, the women's beach volleyball elite from Italy felt in a slump. They looked unfocused and mistake-prone. Latvia took the first set with a huge lead of 17 points (21:4). In the second set, Bianchin/Scampoli seemed to have found their form again. It was a very high level match with many rallies. In the end, the Latvian women's duo won 21: 19 and won the second match 2:0.

The Nations Score showed a result of 1:1, so it went on to the Golden Set, where only 15 points have to be scored. The coaches are free to choose which team they send to the court. While Latvia decided on their winning duo from match two, the Italian coach chose a riskier option. He decided to swap players and thus created a completely new team. In the golden set of the first women's quarter-final, it was now Scampoli/Breidenbach vs Graudina/Kravcenoka. The Italian coach's willingness to take risks seemed to have paid off. The Italian duo Scampoli/Breidenbach started well into the match and took the lead, while the Latvian ladies had problems finding their way into the match. However, Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina from Latvia tried everything, showed the will to win, caught up and scored the equaliser. Both teams battled for every point. They offered the audience an exciting head-to-head race at an excellent level. There were numerous changes in the lead. The Latvian women's team showed strong nerves and won the Golden Set 21:19. The Nations Score was thus 2:1 for Latvia. While the Latvian women's duo will play against Switzerland in the semi-finals on Friday, Italy was eliminated from the Nations Cup after a strong performance.