Starikov and Meir claim back-to-back Israeli Beach Volleyball titles

Starikov and Meir claim back-to-back Israeli Beach Volleyball titles with new partners. Tel Aviv, Israel, August 24, 2019.

Israel crowned their national Beach Volleyball champions for 2019 on Saturday – and there were some surprises as to which players were standing on the podium.

Sofia Starikov and Anita Dave, who have been competing at a number of stops of the FIVB World Tour this year, were clearly the dominant force of the women’s competition, where they beat Tzeela Mohar and Jennifer Guz 21-15, 23-21 in the gold medal match. Starikov retained the title she had claimed last year with Aliona Cherkez – one of the most experienced and successful Beach Volleyball players in Israel.

Sofia Starikov and Anita Dave secured their first national title as a team

Sean Faiga and Hen Meir secured the men’s title following their 21-15, 21-15 victory in the final match against Amit Dayan and Hagai Zvulun. Meir, who found himself a qualified partner (Faiga was Israel’s top Beach Volleyball player for a number of years, reaching no. 45 in the world ranking with former partner Ariel Hilman before returning to indoor Volleyball last season), also won the championship back to back, after standing on top of the podium in 2018 with Alon Sanderovich.

Dayan and Zvulun were the championship’s dark horses, as they made it through the qualification round before surprising and eliminating higher-ranked rivals one after the other.

Source: www.cev.eu

Posted in International on Aug 23, 2019