(Photo FIVB)
Two former U19 world beach volleyball champions will be looking to upgrade to the U21 crown in Puebla. Latvia’s Gustavs Auzins-Kristians Fokerots, who won the U19 crown in 2022, and Szymon Pietraszek-Jakub Krzeminski of Poland, who won the title in 2024 are through to the semi-finals of the U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Auzins-Fokerots will be challenged by Mexican home heroes Antonio Lares-Carlos Andres Ayala in their semi-finals while Pietraszek-Krzeminski will face fellow Polish teammates Szymon Beta-Artem Besarab in the other semi-finals.
Auzins-Fokerots continued their merciless quest towards another world title with two more wins in Puebla that made them the first team with a secured spot in the semifinals. The Latvian duo are yet to lose a set after five matches played at this World Championship.
In their quarterfinal game, Auzins-Fokerots mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) shutout of Ukrainian qualifiers Dmytro Kozii & Sviatoslav Nahornyi, and earlier in the day, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) sweep of their eighthfinal against Casper Willems & Alexy Humblet of Belgium.
“The games today were really hard. I think of us as a little bit of favorites in every game, but still every game is really, really hard. We are happy that we can be the first semifinalists and, hopefully, we get the wins tomorrow as well,” Fokerots told FIVB.com.
“I love the crowd here. The atmosphere is the best I have ever played in! So, I really hope that tomorrow there will be so many people again and I can’t wait to get out there and play,” Auzins added.
Next on center court, the fantastic crowd was delighted by a convincing 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) shutout that home favorites Lares-Andres hammered out in their quarterfinal against Germany’s Tristan Frobel-Tamo Wust to push through to the semifinals.
Before that, the inspired Mexican team also swept their quarter-finals Czechia’s Vojtech Pavlusek-Vojtech Votava by 2-0 (21-16, 21-13). So, Lares-Carlos Andres’s winning streak in Puebla was also extended to five matches without a set lost.
A three-set battle unfolded in the quarterfinal between Pietraszek-Krzeminski and Norway’s Even Aas-Jonah Utvik, two teams that started their Puebla campaigns from the qualifications.
Trailing after the first set, the Poles managed to mount a solid 2-1 (16-21, 21-18, 15-12) comeback and advanced to the semis. They had to play another two playoff games earlier on Saturday, which they managed to win in straight sets – 2-0 (21-7, 21-10) in their Last 16 against Mozambique’s Ednilson Tivane-Helton Guvo and 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) in their quarter-finals against Italian qualifiers Andrea Sanguanini-Matteo Iurisci.
In the last men’s quarterfinal, Beta-Besarab outplayed USA’s Malachi Brewington-Titus Lance in an emphatic 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) sweep to set up an all-Polish semifinal encounter with compatriots Pietraszek-Krzeminski on Sunday.
For Beta-Besarab, the day also started from the Last 16 round, where they claimed a tight 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) win over Australia’s Finley Bennett-James Kay. The Polish duo went on to knock out Iran’s Amir Ali Ghaleh Novi-Habib Naseri in a 2-0 (22-20, 21-15) the quarter-finals.
USA’s Zoey Henson-Sarah Wood will take on Hungarian qualifiers Chiara Honti-Majoros-Stefania Kun in the women’s semifinals while Brazilian qualifiers Marcela Barbosa-Maria Clara will cross swords with American qualifiers Sally Perez-Avery Jackson.
Henson-Wood were the first team to book a semifinal spot when they put together a speedy 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) victory over Canada’s Ruby Sorra & Ofure Odigie on center court.
Earlier in the day, the US pair produced another straight-setter in their quarter-finals against Germany’s Mareet Maidhof-Sophia Neuss, 2-0 (21-16, 26-24). Henson-Wood extended their winning streak in Mexico to five matches, having lost only one set along the way, in their pool opener against Brazil’s Marcela-Maria Clara, who also made it to the semifinals.
“We both just really battled. We wanted it so bad! We just stack together. Even though we went through some adversity, we kept calm, worked together and trusted our game,” said Wood.
“We are really excited to get out there tomorrow and just take advantage of this opportunity. I think our game is really physical, so we just stick to that and stay together the whole time and that should be enough for us,” Henson added.
The Americans’ semifinal opponents emerged just seconds later on Court 2. Hungary’s Honti-Majoros-Kun closed their tough quarterfinal against Austria’s Lia Berger-Lilli Hohenauer in straight sets, registering a 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) win and extending their victory run in Puebla to six consecutive games.
In their quarter-finals match, the Hungarians came back from a set down against Sofia Izuzquiza-Adriana Serrano of Spain to mount a nail-biting 2-1 (15-21, 22-20, 18-16) turnaround.
A dramatic all-Brazilian quarterfinal propelled qualifiers Marcela-Maria Clara to the semifinals. They outlasted their compatriots Carolina Sallaberry-Julhia Perandre in the tie-breaker to celebrate a 2-1 (21-19, 8-21, 15-11) victory. It was the end of a long day for Marcela & Maria Clara.
They started their elimination rounds from the morning’s Last 16 where they achieved a 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) win over France’s Saofe Duval-Romane Sobezalz. The young Brazilians went on to claim another hard-fought 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) victory in their eighthfinal against Czechia’s Katerina Pavelkova-Anna Pavelkova.
In the last women’s quarterfinal in Puebla, Perez-Jackson found a way to wipe out solid opponent leads in both the second and the third sets to celebrate a 2-1 (18-21, 23-21, 15-12) victory over Latvia’s Liva Ebere-Deniela Konstantinova.
It was their seventh win in a row since the start of the tournament in Puebla. In the quarter-finals, the American duo put together a 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) shutout of Mexico’s Naomi Cruz-Angelica Torres.
