The bronzed duo of Anhelina Khmil and Tetyana Lazarenko won bronze medals to suit in the U-22 female category at the CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships 2022 held in the Netherlands on June 12.
The pair’s hopes of gold had earlier been dashed by Spain in the semi-final, but the Ukrainians beat the Dutch pair of Piersma/Bekhuis 2:0 (21:16, 21:12) to claim third place and a bronze medal each.
In the earlier stages of the tournament the Ukrainian duo had progressed by beating Cyvaite/Silicyte from Lithuania, Prihti/Sinisalo of Finland and Berntsen/Maaseide of Norway.
They followed that up by gaining victory over the Slovenian team in the last 16 before overcoming the Latvian team at the quarter-final stage.
Sadly, they fell short at the semi-final hurdle, losing 0-2 (21-11, 21-13) to the Spanish pair of Alvarez M./Moreno.
Yet, winning bronze is a continuation of the duo’s success story.
Back in December 2021, the duo struck gold at the World Beach Volleyball Tournament in Thailand in the female U-21 category.
This was a landmark victory, as it was the first medal ever won by any Ukrainian competitor in beach volleyball in international competition.
Anhelina Khmil and Tetyana Lazarenko beat pairs from Switzerland, Russia and Italy on the way to the final, where they beat the team from Spain.
Ukrainian beach volleyball players Anhelina Khmil and Tetyana Lazarenko, World Beach Tournament Winners in U-21 female category in Thailand, December 2021. (Photo Credit: https://www.telegraf.in.ua via shorturl.at/mBPTV)
