Event 6 - 26th July Portmarnock, Co. Dublin
After two cancelled events in Portmarnock the sun was splitting the trees as we took to the beach for the sixth event of the calendar. With 17 teams entering and plenty of sun lotion on we got underway. Many of the pool games ended close one even going to 31 - 29, this ensured many tough draws in the elimination stage.
As the afternoon drew to a close and after many tough games, some with miraculous comebacks, we were left with two teams in the final, they were:
Magyars: Hajnalka Domain & Zoltan Fenes
Heineken: Bea Gerevich & Janusz Stolarek
Winners: Heineken
Thanks again to all the teams that took part and we hope to see you all at the next event in Inchydoney, Co. Cork.
Event 5 - 12th July Kilmuckridge, Co. Wexford
It was third time lucky for Kilmuckridge as after two cancelled events we finally got to play some beach volleyball!
There was a great turn out for the men's section with 15 teams entering and also 9 teams competing in the women's section.
With the Groups stages complete the Double Elimination started, with some very strong pairings some of the matches were extremely competitive and resulted in many passers by stopping for the afternoon to watch the drama unfold.
With teams dropping out we were eventually left with:
Men
Huh?: Jonathan Whitty & Odhrain O'Braonain
Cbphoto.ie: Slawomir Wrzesniak & Marek Majtyka
Women's
A-Z: Alexandra Romanova & Zdenka Reichertova
Cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Erin Dohm
Winners
Huh?(Men's) & A-Z (Women's)
Thanks again to all the teams that made the journey to Kilmuckridge, we now have a week off due to the Coca Cola Beach Volleyball Festival in Bray. The next event is on the 26th July in Portmarnock, so keep your fingers crossed for no freak tides and also for glorious sunshine.
Event 4 - 5th July Portmarnock, Co. Dublin
Due to some very bad luck with a change of venue at short notice and a freak tide time table this event was abandoned during play.
Event 3 - Portmarnock, Co. Dublin
Unfortunatley due to very poor weather conditions this event was cancelled.
Event 2 - 14th June Ballybunion, Co. Kerry
The second Outdoor Circuit Event this year was in the picturesque setting of Ballybunion beach in the kingdom of Kerry. After last year's event that was a complete wash out fingers and toes were crossed that the weather would hold out for us..... and it certainly did! Not only was the weather perfect we had a great turn out in the men's competition, with 12 teams taking part ( only 6 took part last year).
With the sun in the eyes and sun tan lotion on the players took to the courts. Once the group stages were completed the Double Elimination Stage started. After some marathon games and some very good volleyball on dislay we were left with 4 teams fighting it out for the Women's & Men's titles respectivley:
Men
Huh?: Jonathan Whitty & Odhrain O'Braonain
Jets: Markus Hahnel & Janusz Stolarek
Women's
Ladybirds: Julia Juetner & Zdenka Reichertova
Cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Katerina Mrackova
Winners
Huh?(Men's) & Cbphoto.ie (Women's)
A huge thank you again to all the teams that travelled to Ballybunion, and lets keep the weather on a roll and head on down to Portmarnock, Co. Dublin for the next event on 21st June for a 2v2 Mixed Event.
Event 1 - 31st May Herbert Park, Co. Dublin.
On Saturday the Outdoor Circuit got under way at Herbert Park, Co. Dublin. After a last minute change of plan, the stand in venue proved to be a great move due to weather and also spectator numbers.
On one of the sunniest days of the year so far, 20 teams took part in this seasons opener and it proved to be really competitive tournament. During the group stages Group B was deemed to be the toughest group with 8 of the 12 players in the group being ranked in the top 10 rankings last year.
With the group stages complete, the Double Elimination Section got under way, with many tough games being played out in the glorious sunshine. The level of volleyball was exceptionally high throughout the tournament, which is outstanding when some of the teams played nearly 12 games in over 25 degrees celsius.
After nearly 5 hours of playing we were left with two teams fighting it out to be crowned champions of the first event. The teams were:
Cbphoto.ie - Slawomir Wrzesniak, Marek Majtyka, Erin Dohm
Trappa-Antos - Matteo Sbrolla, Benny O'Regan, Marta Murano
Unfortunatley there could only be one winner and this years victors at Herbert Park, Co. Dublin were Cbphoto.ie.
A big thank you must go to all the participating teams who made the first event this year so successfull, we all hope to see a similar turn out at our next event; Ballybunion, Co. Kerry on 14th June.
