Marko Repek and Mario Jurković
Beautiful municipality of Podstrana hosted Croatian junior Beach Volleyball Championship, where 7 male and 10 female teams “battled” for the spot at the upcoming U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, few teams canceled their participation.
CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship will be held in Turkey, from 23rd to 27th of September 2020 at the iconic Bostanii Beach Park in Izmir, on the shores of the Aegean Sea.
Marko Repek and Mario Jurković in the male category, Ema Mrkić and Ana Šverko in female, were crowned U18 champions of Croatia, earning the spot at the above mentioned European Championship.
“It is very important that such tournament for younger age categories has been held, in order to increase the base of young athletes who want to play beach volleyball at the highest level. This tournament was a great opportunity for everyone to try and compete for the spot at the upcoming U18 European Championship. Everyone had an equal chance to show their volleyball skills on the beach. Despite the COVID-19 situation, a large number of teams applied for this Championship, which shows that the interest in beach volleyball is increasing every year. I firmly believe that with the hard work of head coach Tomislav Karaula and all the Beach Volleyball Committee, we can once again look forward to the future of our young players, as was the case some ten years ago, when Nikša Dell’Orco and Mate Glavurić won second place in Europe.” – said the president of the Croatian Beach Volleyball board, Mr. Frane Žanić.
“The tournament was a great experience, we had the honor to share the field with some exceptional players, so we can only be proud that we managed to earn the spot at the European Championship. I had some problems with an ankle injury, but with the support of my partner Mario, and help from our coaching staff, we managed to play until the end.” – said the winner, Marko Repek, who prepared the last spike for his partner Mario Jurković in the final against Nikola Jureta and Duje Cvijović.
Ema Mrkić and Ana Šverko
In the women’s competition, Ema Mrkić and Ana Šverko won the gold medal, beating the local team Lucijana Terze and Tia Kovčo in the finals.
“We are so excited and still cannot believe that we have achieved this kind of success. We are really looking forward to play in Turkey, as we will proudly represent Croatia for the first time in our lives. We can only hope that we will show our love and passion for the beach volleyball there as well.” – HAOK Žal Banjole’s young stars Ana and Ema shared their excitement for winning the gold medal.”
