Jerusalem, May 27 (Agency) Finland and Latvia both won on Friday in the women’s preliminaries of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) Beach Volleyball Nations Cup in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan. The four-team Pool G matches are played in a double-elimination format, where a match-losing team gets a second chance. Sara Sinisalo/Anniina Parkkinen defeated Yahli Ashush/Michal Barannik 2-1 and Taru Lahti-Liukkonen/Niina Ahtiainen beat Anita Dave/Sofia Starikov 2-0 to earn Finland the victory over Israel. Latvia fell behind against Bulgaria after Liva Ebere/Daniela Konstantinova lost 2-1 to Irena Mishonova/Desislava Nikolova, but Tina Graudina/Anastasija Samoilova gave Latvia a comeback victory, beating Darina Kindova/Eva Petrova 2-0 and Nikolova/Mishonova 15-4 in a decisive golden set.
On Saturday, Finland will play Bulgaria, while Israel will face Latvia, with the winners meeting in the group’s final match. In the men’s five-team Pool B, also played in Ramat Gan, Latvia overcame Israel, Romania won over Scotland, the Netherlands saw off Romania, and Israel beat Scotland. Latvia and Israel will play Romania and the Netherlands respectively on Saturday, with the winners advancing to the pool’s final match. Beach Volleyball teams from 35 European national federations contest the preliminary round of the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup, with winners of the 14 groups, seven groups per gender, qualify for the finals.