In Minsk started the tournament on beach volleyball “Victory Cup”

The international beach volleyball tournament “Victory Cup” unfolded on the sandy platform at the capital’s Sports Palace on September 9. This year, 24 couples from three countries (12 male and 12 female duets) are competing for the awards, including four couples from Belarus. What the organizers prepared and with what mood the athletes started the tournament, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency learned.

Belarus will be represented by two pairs in each competition. Ten Russian duets will perform in the women’s tournament, nine pairs from Russia and one from Kazakhstan will perform in the men’s. On Wednesday, on the sandy ground, the competition opened with the women's group stage.

According to the Secretary General of the Belarusian Volleyball Federation Alla Teterina, after last year’s tournament, the organizers increased the number of seats for fans.

- Last year we faced a problem: many people simply could not get to the stands. This year, the number of seats increased. Now we can accommodate up to 1,700 people, and if necessary, add more chairs. Despite the fact that the competitions coincided with the celebration of the City Day, we managed to create an excellent sports facility here and a real platform for a big holiday, Teterina said.

The organizers prepared a lot of entertainment for those who came to the tournament with the whole family. There are special zones for children and volleyball fans, where in between matches you can try your hand at the game. Those who wish can test themselves for accuracy and strength with a giant volleyball, and relax in a relaxation zone with soft poofs. In the green zone, you can compare your growth with the growth of Belarusian volleyball players - cardboard stands with images of athletes are installed here.

- There will be a lot of draws, even balls will be played, so it will be great and fun. Anyone can take part! – said A. Teterina.

Head coach of the women’s national team of the Republic of Belarus in beach volleyball Oleg Abramenko noted the special atmosphere of the tournament in Minsk and the high level of competition.

- According to emotions, this is probably one of the most interesting tournaments in Minsk: we play on our own platform, in front of our fans, and our opponents are very serious. So the competitions are really important to us. Russian couples have always had a high level - they have very strong athletes, so the competition will be serious. But we don’t go ahead and think about the end result. Before each game, we set one goal – to win the next match. And what will be the result, we will see at the end of the tournament, he said.

For Veronica Thunder and Margarita Gaishun, these competitions became their debut. At 12:30 they played with sisters Catherine and Anastasia Garmash and won in three sets. At 16:40 Belarusians will meet with Kaliningrad couple Maria Egorova and Maria Lazurenko – winners of the “Victory Cup” 2025.

Favourites of the tournament Nadezhda Tishkova and Victoria Secretova will play one game on September 9. At 17:30 Belarusians will play with representatives of St. Petersburg Julia Sivolap and Anastasia Isakova. The Russians have already managed to open the tournament with a victory in the first match and clearly do not intend to stop there:

- We came here with one goal: to play as best we can and go as far as we can. We don’t want to be ahead of ourselves, we just want to play a stable game and be happy with ourselves. Last year we visited Belarus for the first time and we liked it so much that we decided to come back. There are beautiful people, a wonderful city, delicious food and excellent conditions for playing. We have never met the Belarusians before, so we will prepare and fight for victory.

In addition to women's meetings, the program will also host men's fights. At 14:10, Ivan Yarmosh and Alexei Kovalevsky will come to the site. Their rivals will be a Russian couple from Novy Urengoy. At 15:00 Alexander Dedkov and Pavel Petrushko will play against one of the strong Russian duets - Arseny Krasavina and Vladislav Mikhalev.

Photo by Denis Kulagi